100 Themes Challenge
by WildWolfMoon
Summary: The Challenge that needs patience and imagination to make 100 creations.
1. Introduction

The Akatsuki had no idea why they needed to work in partnerships. They were strong enough to fight on their own, right?

They still were partnered up, leaving Zetsu on his own as Pein searched for someone for him, finally coming up with Tobi, the annoying little squirt that he was.

And in their partnerships, each nin wondered why they were harboring special feelings for their partner, no matter what the other did to get on their nerves.

Each one of them desperately wanted to know their partner better, but something always held them back.

Something each of them didn't like to think about. What would happen if they got to know their partners better? Would it improve their teamwork, or damage it beyond repair?

But each of them made their choice:

They wanted to know the people they worked with, spent time with, lived with, fought with, hated, and yet the same time...

Cared about, liked and admired, for their own various reasons, some holding deeper reasons than the others.

And all it took to get to know them, the partners they had, and admired, were a few little words.

"Please, tell me about yourself."

But those words were hard to say. They were necessary, yes.

That didn't change the fact that they were hard to say.

Then Tobi came, and his first words to all of them were exactly what they all wanted to say.

"Please, introduce yourselves to me! Tobi wants to know all about you people!"

And just like that, the barrier was down.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** So this is the beginning of the 100 art themes challenge.

This is so lame, this part. It's all I could think of though, so deal.

I'm suicidal, but may as well go down laughing.

And if I feel like it, I may write one of the themes about my life. Just because I have a nutty life, and it could answer some questions people ask me all the time.

This is really lame and suckish though.


	2. Love

Hidan had no idea what drew him to Kakuzu so much.

Something did though. And the immortal found that he got excited whenever Kakuzu drew near him, tingles racing up and down his spine. He knew something was up when he found he blushed madly whenever he saw Kakuzu without his mask. He knew that something had changed when he got depressed when Kakuzu left on a solo mission, leaving the immortal on his own for however long the miser was gone.

Hidan had always wanted to get to know his partner better, a feat that had proved impossible until Tobi showed up and said those crucial few words.

Everyone in the Akatsuki had opened up more since then. Everyone except Kakuzu. And Hidan didn't understand why.

Hidan had told his partner more about him, and only wanted something, something about Kakuzu, to be told to him.

But Kakuzu never said anything.

Deidara and Itachi noticed that Hidan was obviously depressed about it, and would give each other knowing looks. The immortal had no idea what made them look at each other like they did.

He envied them. Sasori and Deidara had gotten so much closer, Zetsu stopped trying to eat Tobi every five minutes, Kisame so friendly with the Uchiha he always knew what was bothering his partner, even when the weasel had made no sign he was annoyed.

It wasn't that was with Hidan and Kakuzu.

But Hidan wanted to change that.

And he then came up with Kakuzu's nickname, Kuzu.

That made Kakuzu open up to him a bit more, but it usually ended up in more fights. But it didn't make Hidan's feelings go away.

In fact, the more he fought with his partner, the more often they argued, the more Hidan felt the strange feelings inside grow stronger.

Hidan wanted to know more about his partner, and more than that, he wanted to understand the strange feeling he got when he was around him.

He just needed to know what it was.

"Hidan, I know what's bothering you, un," Deidara said suddenly. He and Hidan were sitting on the training fields outside, taking a rest from nearly three hours of sparring. It was June, the sky clear with a light breeze that messed up the two Akatsuki member's carefully arranged hair.

Hidan closed his eyes, not responding immediately. The day was so peaceful...birds singing, the trees swaying, the sky cloudless....it was warm, but not so much that it was uncomfortable. Peace like this was so rare to the Akatsuki, especially since Deidara and Tobi had joined.

He opened his eyes again and regraded his friend, who had small smile on his face as he looked over the immortal, blue eyes grinning and light with happiness.

"What the hell do you think it is, blondie?" Deidara didn't flinch at Hidan's course language; like all of the Akatsuki, he was used to it.

"I think you're in love with Kakuzu, un."

Hidan's heart nearly stopped, and he felt himself blush. "What the fucking hell do you know about love, blondie?"

"For one thing, I'm in love as well, un."

Hidan's head jerked up, lavender eyes wide. Deidara gave him another small smile before looking away again.

"I'm in love with Sasori danna, un."

* * *

** Author's Comments:** This one is mainly KakuHidan, lol. This one was fun to write.


	3. Light

Deidara saw light.

"Hey...Sasori no danna, un?"

They were sitting in a cave, straining their eyes in the darkness. The entrance had collapsed behind them from a bomb a few hours ago, and they had been stuck there that whole time. Sasori didn't seem to mind the dark, Deidara didn't like the dark at all.

Sasori wouldn't let him set off any bombs to brighten it for a few brief moments either, saying it would just cause more of the cave to collapse on them.

Deidara sat huddled in the corner, trying his hardest not to panic at the crushing darkness surrounding him. He hated the dark with a passion. It reminded him to much of his childhood, something he hated to think about.

"What is it, brat?" he heard Sasori growl at him from somewhere to his right.

"Danna, I see a bit of light, un," Deidara whispered.

"Where?"

"Up there and to the right, un," Deidara said quietly, motioning to the corner, even though he knew it was useless in this dark that not even Sasori could see in.

He heard Sasori sigh, then the clicks and snaps of his tail unwinding from his stomach and creaking up to the corner.

Sasori nudged aside a piece of rock, and the small amount of light grew brighten. Deidara kept his blue eyes focused on it, the glow enhancing them and making them shine in the now semi darkness.

Sasori saw the look of hope on his young partner's face and bit back a grin. He looked lovely, with the small ray of sunlight high lighting his azure eye and his blonde hair shining.

Sasori grunted as he tossed aside a large piece, reveling a patch of the evening sky, painted red, shades of lavender, lightest pink, shining gold, fiery orange and deep blue.

Deidara's smile grew wider at the sight of the evening sky, his eye lighting up even more.

Sasori shot his partner a tender smile before tossing another few rocks out of the way, the he brought his tail down. Deidara followed the shining metal, a confused look replacing his smile.

"Danna, what are you---"

Sasori's tail wrapped around the blonde's waist and brought him up to the hole he had created. Deidara grabbed at the rocks and pulled himself up and through, before he turned around to look back at Sasori, who was on the ground, ten feet below him.

"What did you do that for, danna, un?" he asked, eyes wide.

Sasori smiled at him. Smiled, not smirked. A true smile that lit up his face.

"You wanted the light," he said simply. "I merely brought you to it."

* * *

** Author's Comments:** So lame ... I did a KakuHidan last time, thought this part might as well be SasoDei.


	4. Dark

Itachi felt like he was always surrounded by darkness.

Dark was his past, with the murder of his clan and the abandonment of his village. Darkness was always there, eating away at the Uchiha.

Itachi frowned as he twisted a kunai around his fingers, skillfully managing to avoid cutting his fingers open in the process. The weasel was sitting in the living room on the love seat, Kisame in a chair half way across the room from him. Everyone else was on mission, Sasori and Deidara in Konoha, Hidan and Kakuzu in Hidden Rain, even Pein and Konan were gone. The weasel felt eyes on him and glanced up.

Kisame was watching him, golden eyes concerned.

"What is it, Kisame?" Itachi questioned quietly, setting the knife down on the couch.

"What's the matter, Itachi?"

Ever since Tobi had arrived, everyone in the Akatsuki had relaxed something deep inside and opened up more to their partners. Kisame and Itachi were no exception, and Kisame knew how to read how the Uchiha was feeling pretty well by this point.

"It's nothing," Itachi said weakly.

Kisame rolled his eyes and got to his feet, walking over to the Uchiha and stopping in front on him, crouching down and staring into his partner's black, black eyes.

"Itachi, I'm your partner. Trust me, please," the shark whispered.

Itachi looked away, staring at the wall. His delicate eyebrows drew together as he thought. "It's so dark...." he whimpered.

"What is?"

"Me. I'm dark. I'm corrupted. Corrupted and ruined beyond saving." Itachi felt his chest shudder as something inside him broke down, and he heard his voice begin to crack and break as he spoke.

The next moment, Kisame was holding the weasel on his lap, running his fingers through the pitch black hair as Itachi clung to the chest and sobbed. "It's so dark...."

"No Itachi, you aren't dark," Kisame murmured to his partner.

"Angels aren't dark and corrupted."

* * *

** Author's Comments:** Ugh...this one was so evil ... I've been doing team pairings, so this time I focused on KisaIta. Still doesn't change the fact that this one is so cheesy....


	5. Seeking Solace

CRACK

Deidara flinched and stifled a yelp, not wanting to wake his partner. It was storming outside, and Deidara was sitting on his bed, shaking. Sasori was asleep on his own bed, not five feet away from the trembling blonde.

Storms scared him. They reminded him of his childhood. Storms meant more beatings. Storms meant people yelling at him. Storms meant he'd have to go the hospital in the morning, with his parents supplying a lie as to how he got so hurt.

Even now, when he was an S rank criminal, his fear didn't go away. If anything, it had gotten worse because of one incident.

He had been flying, and a storm had crept on him without his notice. His bird had melted, and Deidara had fallen to the earth and certain doom....

...Only to be caught by Sasori, who was out of Hiruko for once. Deidara reminded the fierce blush that had covered his face as his partner carried him to a cave, knowing that his young partner wouldn't be able to walk from the shock of the fall.

The fall had scared him, increased his fear, but if Sasori hadn't held him the way he did, so carefully, Deidara knew it would be even worse.

Deidara hunched into a ball, his shaking getting worse as the storm increased in volume. He needed something now, something to help him.

He felt an arm drape itself across his back, and the blonde looked up, tears coursing down his face. Sasori was watching him with blank brown eyes. Without a word, the red head pulled the blonde into his lap and began stroking his head.

Deidara wrapped his arms around the puppet master's slim waist and buried his face in Sasori's shirt, breathing in the pine scent that always surrounded the red head.

"It's alright, Dei," Sasori murmured, tangling his fingers in the blonde's long hair. "I'm here for you."

"Danna..." Deidara whispered, looking up at Sasori's face. The red head looked down at him, brown eyes showing his concern for his young partner.

"What is it?" Sasori asked quietly.

"Why are you up, un?" Deidara whispered.

"Because you woke me up," Sasori said, giving the blonde a faint smile.

"Was I making that much noise, un?"

Sasori shook his head, still smiling. "No, you were quiet."

"Then how did I wake you up, un?" Deidara asked, tightening his grip.

"I could tell you were upset."

Deidara's azure eyes widened. He woke up just because Deidara had been upset?

"Thank you danna, un," he mumbled, as his eyes shut. Sasori continued to stroke the blonde's hair, and listened with a small smile as he heard Deidara's breathing even out.

Deidara had fallen asleep during a storm for the first time.

Sasori drew in the blonde closer to him, and buried his face in the blonde locks.

"Glad I could help you, my Deidara," Sasori muttered. He stayed there all night, breathing in the scent of clay and flowers.

_I remember...after that incident...when I fell....I fell in more ways than one._

_I fell in love._

_

* * *

_

** Author's Comments:** I'm not sure if this really fits the theme, but I did my best. The idea is so cliched though.


	6. Break Away

"Hey...Kakuzu?" Hidan asked, pausing in the cleaning of his scythe and looking over at his partner. They were sitting in a clearing after a fight. Their mission was another assassination one, and they had just completed it. Their targets head lay on the forest floor next to Kakuzu, eyes blank, it's body six feet to Hidan's left.

"What is it now, Hidan?" the miser growled, repairing a tear in his cloak.

"Why did you leave your dammed village? You know why I left my shithole of a village....but you never tell me why you left yours."

Kakuzu sighed and closed his eyes. "Does it matter?" he asked in a flat voice.

"Well...I was just fucking wondering, since I know almost nothing about you, bastard," Hidan said quietly, looking away from the banker. "I don't even know what you look like under that dammed mask."

Kakuzu sighed and got to his feet, picking up their target's head. "The way I look is none of your concern," he said shortly. "Let's go."

"Please, Kuzu. You can tell me," Hidan whispered, looking up at his partner.

Kakuzu closed his eyes and shook his head.

* * *

_"Mommy, look at that freak!"_

_"Yes dear, I see. Now let's go," a worried mother told her child, trying to hurry the small boy by Kakuzu. The miser was sitting at an outside cafe, sipping at a cup of tea._

_"Mommy, why does he look so weird?" the child asked. Kakuzu flinched and drank a bit more tea, trying to drown out the child's voice._

_"Honey, don't talk like that. He might get mad and kill you. Now let's go."_

_Kakuzu sighed as the woman and child walked off. He got to his feet, leaving some money on the table to pay for his drink before he started back to his apartment._

_As he walked home, he glanced in glass windows of the shops lining the streets. A monster looked back, with glowing eyes and black stitches covering it's cheeks._

_A monster._

_Someone who should die._

_The reason he left his village._

_He was a mistake, someone who should have died. Someone who didn't deserve life. Someone everyone hated and feared._

_And that was why he broke away._

_

* * *

_

Kakuzu smiled bitterly as he remembered the past Hidan watched him with a concerned frown, forgetting his scythe, forgetting blood surrounding him.

"Kuzu, please tell me," the immortal whispered.

"No, Hidan." Kakuzu shook his head. If he told his partner everything, the albino would only hate him, and despise him, and break any ties he had with the miser.

"Kakuzu, you need to break away from what's holding it back and just fucking tell me," Hidan said quietly, lavender eyes boring into Kakuzu's vivid green.

"Please, let it go. Break away."

Kakuzu smiled at his partner, although the Jashinist couldn't see it for his mask. "I can't break away from who I am, Hidan."

_And I can't break away from these feelings I have for you....I can't break away._

_

* * *

_

** Author's Comments:** THIS DOES NOT FIT WITH THE THEME AT ALL! I'm really mad at myself now.


	7. Heaven

Konan was the angel of her god. The fighting guardian, the angelic beauty who defended the man. She was nothing more than his unreachable angel, even though he was her god. She always flew just out of reach.

Pein was the god who watched over his angel and all of his minions, the ones too lowly to be considered an angel. Nothing like Konan, the quiet and beautiful origami mistress, they were loud and stubborn.

They were rude, disobedient and careless. The drove him mad, they made him spend countless nights awake, cursing his decision for picking them to be in the Akatsuki.

Unlike his angel, Pein mused as he sat at his desk, paperwork spread out before him on his hard oak desk, Konan herself sitting on the couch, half way across the room from the Akatsuki leader, folding a paper crane.

Pein watched with a smile as she gently blew on the crane, and it took flight, soaring around the room. Konan laughed and clapped her hands in delight, gray eyes sparkling as she followed the crane's path.

Pein smiled at the woman, forgetting all his troubles as he gazed at his angel.

His angel. The one person he admired and cared for. The light in the dark.

Konan made everything bright. Maybe it was because she was paper, and when she became paper, the sun shone off the white sheets and into Pein's eyes, always blinding him for a few moments.

Maybe it was the cheer she gave off, much like Deidara's own natural happiness. It always made Pein happy and relaxed, no matter what had happened, weather it had been Deidara blowing up the front hallway to Zetsu eating the mailman.

Maybe it was because Pein had found himself in love with the origami mistress.

Whatever the case was, Pein enjoyed spending time with the blue haired women. She never yelled at him, never told him off, never told him to shut up when he went off on one of his many, many rants about the other members of the Akatsuki.

She obeyed him without question.

She made everything bright.

She lit up parts of the leader, made him laugh and smile. Made him relax his guard.

Everything about her was angelic. Pein loved her for the angel she was, and the light she brought to him and the other members.

She could resolve arguments between Kakuzu and Hidan with ease, going away without a scratch.

She could get Deidara to not blow up the Akatsuki base, and along with Deidara, she was the only person who get Sasori out of his room to join in with the others once in a while.

She could force Itachi to not kill Deidara for stealing his shampoo with nothing more than a few words, and keep the fishtank safe from Kisame.

She was always the one who saved Tobi from being eaten by Zetsu.

She was the center, the life, the force behind the Akatsuki.

She was the one Pein would gladly give his life for, and nearly had many times over.

She was his angel, and she made life with the Akatsuki heaven.

Konan got to her feet and gently plucked the crane out of the air, smiling her beautiful smile at Pein as she did so. She cradled her small, delicate creation close to her body, long fingers running over the thin paper. She smiled down at it, a tender small smile.

"My god, is there anything you desire?" she asked, looking back up at Pein. Pein shook his hand and waved his hand in the air, indicating that she was dismissed. Konan bowed, and crossed the office to the door, heaving it open. She turned back to Pein before she walked out.

"Pein, please don't stay up too late. I don't want you to get exhausted," she whispered. And then the door shut and she was gone, leaving Pein with a darkened room and a smile on his face.

She controlled heaven, and Pein was her servant.

The angel of Heaven.

His angel.

* * *

** Author's Comments:** Why do I get the feeling that this one's not gonna be as popular as the yaoi-ish ones are? And also the feeling that someone's gonna flame me.


	8. Innocence

Tobi was innocence.

All light, no anger, no fear, no despair.

Innocence.

Nothing but that.

There was no other way to describe the boy.

* * *

"ZETSU!" the masked teen launched himself out of the hallway closet and latched onto Zetsu, beaming behind his mask. Zetsu sighed and tried to peel the boy off him, with no success. The teen had a killer grip on him.

"Tobi, please. **Get off before I eat you**. Now, no threatening partners," Zetsu began to argue with himself, quite forgetting Tobi in the process.

Tobi tightened his grip, causing Zetsu to yelp in surprise and glare at the boy, his golden eyes narrowed.

"**What**?"

"Zetsu makes Tobi so happy!" the boy sang happily, before releasing his hold and dashing off down the hallway, leaving a bemused Zetsu staring after him.

"Well...that was odd..." the plant murmured to himself, running a hand through his green hair.

He could hear Tobi singing to himself as the boy raced through the various hallways, a simple happy tune. A light tune.

All of a sudden, he heard the singing stop and the sound of the boy running into something hard. Zetsu sighed to himself and allowed his body to melt into the floor like liquid, leaving no trace he'd ever been in the hallway.

He came up near Tobi, to find the boy sitting on the floor, rubbing at his head. Zetsu could almost see the frown on his face.

"**What the hell happened, Tobi**?"

Tobi jerked his head up and got to his feet, brushing out his clothes. "Tobi ran into the the wall!" he chirped happily.

"And you're not upset?" Zetsu asked, mildly amused at the boy's cheerfulness. Did he _ever_ get upset, by anything?

Tobi stared him, and Zetsu could see the blank look in his eye through his eye hole of his bright orange swirly mask. His black hair stood up in spiky points, falling around the teen's masked face.

"No, Tobi isn't. Should Tobi be?"

* * *

No matter what someone did to Tobi, the boy never was fazed by it. He always said what he was thinking, much to many of the Akatsuki's annoyance, he laughed, he sang, he danced even when there was no music.

He did what made him happy, and Zetsu admired him for that.

He never got angry, never got upset. Always, he was bright and happy.

The very essence of innocence.

* * *

** Author's Comments:** Well, Tobi is pretty innocent, isn't he? Made sense do this one about him. Maybe suck though, cause I'm falling asleep. I have to make these longer....


	9. Drive

STAB

Itachi leaned over and coughed weakly, blood dripping. He glared at his attacker before stabbing the man through the chest. He let the body fall, black eyes cold as he ripped the kunai out of his chest, blood dripping onto his cloak and the forest floor.

Kisame got up from the ground, reaching out a hand towards his bleeding partner. "Itachi...."

Itachi turned to look at the shark, his whole body swaying. He opened his mouth to speak, but had to lean over and hack up even more blood.

Kisame watched in horror as his partner put his hands on his knees, coughing as red blood dripped down into the grass. The Uchiha wiped his lips and straightened up, only to have his eyes widen in shock.

"Itachi?"

Itachi turned his gaze on the shock, opened his mouth to speak....and collapsed. Kisame dived forward to catch his partner as the weasel's knees gave out. Itachi's eyes were closed, his breathing harsh. Sweat glued his hair to his face as his body shook.

"Dammit, Itachi..." Kisame whispered, tracing his finger around the wound in his partner's chest. Itachi whimpered when the shark's finger got too close to the torn flesh and Kisame quickly pulled his hand back.

Kisame sighed and tried to adjust his grip on his partner as he got to his feet. He had to tend to his partner's wounds.

* * *

_"Kisame, look out!" Kisame whirled around and sliced a man through his chest, spraying his blood on the trees and surrounding plantlife. Itachi jumped in front of the shark and sliced at another attacker coming at the shark from the side._

_"To your right!" Itachi yelled, and Kisame swung Samehada around, catching another person across the neck. The man had died instantly._

_Eventually, the stream of attackers died down, and soon only Kisame and Itachi were left alive, standing in the blood soaked grass, panting and trying to recover their lost breath._

_"Nice, Itachi," Kisame said, grinning at his small partner. Itachi flashed him a small smile, straightening up and smoothening out his black hair._

_All of a sudden he froze, eyes wide. "Kisame, move!"_

_"What?"_

_"MOVE!" Itachi launched himself at Kisame, knocking him to the ground. Kisame's eyes widened when he saw another ninja leap out of the trees and drive a kunai into Itachi's thin chest._

_

* * *

_

Kisame sighed, stroking the fire as his golden eyes wandered over to the Uchiha's small frame. Itachi looked...helpless, lying there like he was.

Kisame had done his best to bind the wound on the Uchiha's chest, and the teen looked more peaceful now than he had in a long while.

Kisame smiled as he watched Itachi sleep. It was nice to see him asleep for once, even if it was from having passed out from blood loss. The teen hardly ever slept on missions, or when Kisame wasn't there...and people wondered why he had those bags underneath his eyes like he did, lining his nose.

Itachi never said why he felt the need to stay awake as often as he did. He was quiet, stonic, but since Tobi had arrived, Kisame had gotten to know the Uchiha a bit more, and he found that while the outer of the Uchiha was as cold and hard as ice, inside, the teen was rather gentle and valued peace more than anything.

The weasel whimpered and rolled over in his sleep, jerking Kisame from his thoughts. He frowned down at Itachi, then reached out one hand and gently tugged out the hair tie, allowing Itachi's long dark hair to fall in waves around his thin face.

The shark set the tie down on the ground next to Itachi, then put his hand back in the weasel's hair and began to comb his fingers through it.

As Itachi's breathing evened out again, Kisame smiled.

He remembered one time, he'd asked the Uchiha why he did things the way he did.

* * *

_"What did you say?" Itachi asked, a blank look on his face he glanced up from his book._

_"I asked you why you do things the way you do," the shark replied weakly, not wanting to anger the weasel._

_Much to his surprise, Itachi merely smiled at him. "Simple. I feel a driving need to do it that way."_

_---  
_

Kisame's smile grew broader as he saw Itachi smile in his sleep. He felt a driving need to do something as well.

He had the driving need to protect the teen, lying so defenseless and unprotected before him. Kisame closed his eyes and brushed the gentlest of kisses against the boy's forehead.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Alright, so this doesn't really fit with the theme.

So sue me. I interpented it my own way. Might be different to some peeps, but this is how I see it.

I did my best, anyway.

If I get any hate comments on this, which I spent like FOREVER on, I will kill you.


	10. Breathe Again

"Kakuzu, I really hate this."

"Shut up, Hidan."

"I really, _really_ hate this."

"Will you shut up?!"

"I really, really, really---"

"Shut up!"

Hidan's face settled into a pout as Kakuzu continued to pull at the oars. The immortal glanced over the edge of the boat at the dark water beneath and shivered. It looked cold, uninviting...and scary. Fog danced over the lake, and the immortal couldn't see the shore. He wished there was some other way to their next mission other than by boat, but Kakuzu had refused to let them go any other way, saying he didn't want the delay. So they were now crossing a huge lake, and Hidan was giving the water nervous glances every moment or so, and every time a breeze pushed by him, he instantly clung to the side of the small rowboat.

Hidan did not like water.

Water itself didn't scare him, the thought of falling into it did, and being crushed by surrounding blackness, his lungs filling up as his sight faded....but it wouldn't kill him if it happened.

Just crush his body and drive him to the brink of insanity, but it wouldn't kill him. Not that was reassuring...if anything, it made it worse.

So yes, Hidan was terrified of water.

Kakuzu sighed as he watched his partner glare at the lake water beneath him. For someone as old as the Jashinist was, he as remarkably childlike at times. Hidan had a furious look on his face, and the water reflected into his eyes, making the lavender irises glow under the cloudy sky.

"Kakuzu---" the immortal began after a moment of blissful silence, looking up at the miser with his startlingly beautiful lavender eyes.

"I don't want to hear it, Hidan," Kakuzu snapped. Hidan's face fell, and Kakuzu inwardly cursed himself. He never had any real idea what to do around Hidan, he always just said what came first to his mind.

Which was usually not a good idea.

Kakuzu pulled back roughly on the oars and the boat rocked as it went forward. Hidan's expression changed to one of alarm and he gripped the sides of the boat with both hands.

"Oh come on Hidan, it's not like the water will kill you."

Hidan glared at his partner. "What the hell do you know about me?!"

"Well, you're immortal, insane, a fanatic for some religion, and you seem to be afraid of water," Kakuzu replied, grinning under his mask. Hidan glowered at him.

"I am NOT afraid of water!" he snapped, a blush crawling across his pale cheeks, ignoring Kakuzu's comment about his religion and insanity, but they still stung at him.

"And that's why you're clinging to the boat like a little kid."

Angrily, Hidan got to his feet, forgetting where he was. Kakuzu paid him no mind, but continued rowing. "Leave me the fuck alone, Kakuzu!"

"Or what?"

"I swear I will fucking kill---" the breeze moved the boat at that moment, knocking Hidan off balance. The Jashinist's eyes widened as his body fell over the side of the boat and landed with a splash in the dark water, the water so cold his muscles froze up upon impact.

Kakuzu stared at the spot where his partner had been standing just a moment ago, then at the water, expecting Hidan to surface any moment. But when he didn't come up after a minute....the miser began to worry. He had read that if someone fell into cold water, their body would seize up and they would be unable to move. He was guessing that was what had happened to his partner.

Kakuzu sent his threads over the side of the boat and let them enter the dark water. The dived down deeper and deeper, searching for his partner. Where was the albino...?

Kakuzu let out a sigh of relief when he felt his threads wrap around something warm. His partner.

The miser hurriedly climbed out of the boat, using chakra to stand on the surface of the water, bringing his threads and Hidan back up to the surface.

Hidan's head broke through the water, threads supporting him, wrapped around his thin chest. His hair was soaking, the Akatsuki cloak clinging to his thin body. His face was pale and water made it's tracks down it. Kakuzu quickly took the immortal in his arms, letting the threads retreat back into his body before he examined his partner. The boat bumped against his leg, and he shoved it away, before he realized something was wrong.

Hidan wasn't breathing.

"Shit!" Kakuzu slapped his partner across the face, but all it did was make a red mark appear on the Jashinist's face.

Kakuzu grumbled as he sent his threads out again, using them to hold the immortal out of the water. He laid Hidan down, then began to preform CPR on his partner, pressing his lips to Hidan's own.

_Please, please...._

Hidan coughed weakly, and Kakuzu drew back as the immortal sat up, coughing and hacking up water, eyes shut tightly, a pale, thin hand on his wet chest as he drew in a shuddering breath.

When his coughing had subsided, Hidan turned his lavender eyes on his partner. "What happened?"

"You nearly drowned," Kakuzu replied, getting to his feet before hauling his partner up and stepping back into the boat, Hidan just behind him.

"It wouldn't have any real effect on me," Hidan muttered, pushing back his wet hair out of his eyes and glaring at the bottom of the boat, hatred for water clear in his eyes.

"Still doesn't change the fact that I was worried," the miser replied matter of factly, picking up the oars again. He was glad to hear that his partner was already back to his usual bitching. Nothing affected the immortal for long, no matter what he said or did, and that was something the banker was grateful for sometimes. A depressed Hidan always made him upset as well, for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on. Hidan started at Kakuzu's words, and looked at his partner, eyes wide.

"You were worried?"

"Why would I not be?"

* * *

** Author's Comments:** For some reason, I now have a nosebleed, which is weird, because I never have them. And this has made me lose all my will to understand how my brain works. But I like this, anyway. And this is the tenth theme! only 90 left!


	11. Memories

"Hey look at this one, un," Deidara giggled, pointing to another photo.

It was Sunday afternoon, and it was raining outside. The entire Akatsuki were sitting in the living room, looking through old photo albums, Kakuzu and Hidan sitting together on the couch, Deidara and Sasori on the floor, Kisame and Itachi sitting at the coffee table, Pein and Konan on the easy chair, Zetsu and Tobi in the corner. All with photo albums in front of them.

Deidara held up a picture of him, Itachi and Hidan, all looking angry, with good reason. In the picture, Deidara was wearing a French maid outfit, his hair looped into a bun, make up covering his face. Hidan was wearing a nurse outfit, complete with fishnet stockings and a clipboard, his eyes showing he wanted nothing more than someone's death at that moment. Itachi was dressed as a schoolgirl, his hair done up in two braids, and his eyes were bright red with his Sharigan, not his usual expressionless black.

"I remember that...:" Itachi said thoughtfully, tapping a finger against his lips, propping his album up with his legs as Kisame turned a page. "Konan made us cross dress because there was a snow storm and she was bored."

"And it was funny," Konan giggled, clapping a hand to her mouth. Pein smiled fondly at the woman as she laughed.

"It was fucking not!" Hidan snapped angrily, making as if to get to his feet, only to have Kakuzu pull him back down.

"Easy, Hidan. And it was funny."

Hidan glared at his partner with annoyed lavender eyes. "Some fucking help you are, bastard," the Jashinist hissed at the miser.

"It's just the truth..."

"Oh! Look at this!" Kisame grinned, holding up a photo showing Deidara and Sasori asleep on the training fields outside the base, so close to each other....

"Hy, who took that, un?!"

"That would be Tobi!" Tobi called from his corner. "Sempai looks cute in that picture!"

"Shut UP, un!"

"Ooo...how about this one?" Pein asked, showing the group a photo of Kisame, Itachi, Kakuzu and Hidan all leaning over a box of kittens, Itachi and Hidan looking mildly excited about it, Kakuzu and Kisame giving the felines weird looks.

"That's when he discovered that Kakuzu and Kisame are allergic to cats, right?" Sasori asked, looking up from the album he was flipping through.

"Yeah...they should have fucking told us before we'd brought them into the base, though," the immortal complained. "Those kitties weight a fucking _ton_." But he grinned up at the miser anyway, before pulling the album closer to him and turning the page again.

As the day wore on, the group found many pictures: one of Hidan's birthday, another of Itachi trying to kill Deidara for using all his shampoo, one where someone had made the mistake of giving Tobi sugar, and so all they could see was an orange blur.

Eventually, everyone began drifting off. Deidara and Sasori fell sideways onto the couch, Deidara's head in Sasori's lap, his eyes shut peacefully. Kakuzu and Hidan were curled up by each other on the floor, Kisame holding Itachi in his lap as the weasel breathed gently. Zetsu was sitting upright as he slept, Tobi pressed up against his shoulder.

Konan and Pein were the only ones awake, still flipping through the old photos. "What wonderful memories...." Konan muttered, eyes tracing a picture of Kakuzu and Hidan fighting over something, a small smile on her face.

"Yeah," Pein said, leaning back in the armchair and looking around the room. "They're so full of memories...."

Konan smiled at him. "Let's take one now as well, just to show our idiots do know how to be quiet and peaceful. Another memory to add to the book, neh?"

Another day, another story, another memory.

* * *

** Author's Comments:** Finally done with it. Yes, it's awful, I know that. Deal.


	12. Insanity

Sasori often questions his sanity.

He's known for a long time that he is not sane. He kills too easily, he tears apart families without even a twinge of guilt.

Sasori's childhood was never the kind that most parents would wish on their children. Simply because his parents had died before they could wish anything for him.

Although that is not strictly true. His grandmother had told him of his mother's last wish, the day Sasori realized his parents were never coming home.

_"I want him to be named Sasori. He'll be a proud ninja, and strong. He'll find what he needs in life. But I hope....that even in the battlefield, he can keep sane and find love, with someone, anyone, so long as he's happy."_

He was named Sasori, and he was proud. Proud of his family, proud of his art, proud of himself.

Pride is often what does people in.

His sanity was lost the day his grandmother told him she had always been lying to him. He had trusted her. She had raised him.

But she had lied to him.

_Trust is broken so easily...._

_KILL THEM ALL...._

_They never loved you, Sasori..._

_Kill them....paint the sky with their blood....feast on their bones....dance on their graves...._

_Kill them, Sasori._

He heard voices in his head for a while. They were why he fled the sand village, after killing hundreds. They drove him on, fueled his fire inside.

They were always there, as he wandered around the country, lost and broken, dying slowly, although he was immortal. He had already been transformed into a puppet, and the voices grew louder as his skin harder and his feelings died.

He was insane during that time. He killed and laughed about it. He danced on bloody battlefields, bare feet smearing the crimson stained grass from his wild movements, the music playing in his head the only sound he could hear.

Death had no meaning to him during that time, other than it was his trade, his craft. He killed far too easily, and far too often.

Ninjas came for him during that time, bounty hunters after the price on his head. They were killed, thrown into streams, dropped off cliffs. It didn't matter what happened to them, so long as they were dead.

It was after one such battle that Akatsuki found him. His body was broken, wooden legs crushed to splinters.

They came for him. The blonde, the brunette, and the shark. They wanted him in their organization, they said. He would be the blonde one's partner.

He didn't recover from his madness for a while. Akatsuki worked with him, trying to help him overcome it. His partner, Deidara, was a better fighter because he was insane, but he would be one of the best, if only he could drive away his demons.

Deidara helped him. The blonde was explosive in personality, and the air of not knowing what he was going to do next helped Sasori recover.

Months after he joined, he was calmer. He didn't dance, didn't sing strange songs to music no one could hear. He was quieter, working on puppets more often then not.

Deidara still stayed by him.

Sasori found that Deidara was in anchor from his madness. In Suna, there was noting to hold on to. Demons took control of his mind and body far too easily.

Deidara stopped that.

The blonde awoke feelings in him. Sasori had been sure all feelings he ever had, all emotions, were dried up and gone, dead.

Nearly a year after being partnered with Deidara, Sasori killed a family. The little girl of it, barely three, had gotten in front of her parents, clear azure eyes, so much like Deidara, staring at the red head fearlessly. The blade of Sasori's puppet sank through her chest before he could stop it. Her parents died moments after the blonde little girl

And he cried afterwards, hands shaking as he tried to scrub the blood off. Deidara said nothing, but merely wrapped his arms around the red head's shoulder's, holding him close as he sobbed. The little girl had looked so much like his partner....

He didn't kill as easily anymore. He still did, but always, it hurt afterwards.

Deidara understood him, and never said anything about it to the other Akatsuki.

Now, nearly six years later, Sasori was most assuredly the sanest he had been since he was fifteen.

And all of it was thanks to his partner, Deidara, who Sasori loved more than anyone in the world, and valued above all else.

Even sanity.

* * *

** Author's Comments:** Yeah, I re-wrote it. More depressing, this one. I like this one better, :3


	13. Misfortune

It was just his misfortune.

It was Kisame's misfortune to be stuck with Itachi Uchiha as his partner. Not that the weasel was weak or anything.

In fact, Itachi was so strong it scared the shark sometimes. It seemed like at times the guy could do anything, even fly if you asked him to. The sheer power of his fighting style, and not to mention his dangerous eyes, was enough to make people think twice about trying to fight with them.

No, it wasn't that the kid was weak.

It wasn't even that Itachi was almost addicted to dango, and spent much of his and the shark's budget on the sweet treats. Nor was it that the weasel's long, black hair took so much time to straighten and tie back. And it wasn't even the fact that the Uchiha was a cold blooded killer, who'd murdered his whole family, except for his younger brother.

It was none of those little quirks in Itachi's personality.

No, what the misfortune was was that Kisame had been finding himself falling for his partner.

And what made it his misfortune was that no matter how he wished it wouldn't be, Kisame was certain that his partner would feel nothing other than vague friendship for the shark.

And it didn't help that Itachi was so beautiful.

The kid was stunning. Long black hair that fell his waves and curls around his shoulders the few times he didn't have it yanked back into his usual ponytail. Pale skin that glowed under the moonlight when Kisame and Itachi were finishing up a mission under the cover of dark.

And his eyes...

It wasn't right for something as dangerous and deadly as the Uchiha's eyes to be as stunning as they were.

When Kisame and Itachi were on missions, Itachi's eyes were nearly always red, a bright shade of crimson that never faded. Like blood, the blood that Kisame would spill on the mission. Itachi never needed his weapons much, his eyes were powerful enough to snap someone's mind, destroy all intelligent thought.

So while the two were on missions, or out of the base, that bright blood red never faded, never dimmed for a moment.

To see his partner overworking his eyes like that made something always flinch at the back of the shark's mind. Itachi was slowly losing his eyesight, though the kid was too proud to admit it much of the time.

But when they were just around the base, Itachi's eyes were a deep black, so deep that it made Kisame's head spin. Not many people understood how pitch black eyes could be beautiful, but there was no way to deny that Itachi's were.

And then there was just the kid himself. While much of the time, the kid seemed stonic, emotionless, and a overall bastard, there were times when he'd give Kisame a small smile that just made the shark's heart stop.

And the kid's random acts of kindness for his partner, like giving him a stick of his dango, or taking first watch so Kisame could sleep.

If there was one thing Itachi liked more than dango, it was resting. Not necessarily sleeping, however.

But no matter what happened, Kisame was sure that his partner would never have the same feelings he had for the weasel.

How little he knew.

And so, that was his misfortune.

* * *

** Author's Comments:** I finally got off my lazy ass and did the next theme.

Remember, I'm kinda melting all the themes together, in a weird way, so it fits (sorta) with what is going to happen in the next them I decide will be a KisaIta.

And I've finished 13 themes!

YAY!

...

That's really all I need to say.


	14. Smile

Hidan always had the most beautiful smile.

Kakuzu rarely saw it though, as the zealot was either pouting or smirking much of the time. But on the few times the immortal did give him a true and honest smile, it blew the miser away, each and every time.

Maybe it was because when Hidan smiled, he didn't look like a psychotic priest for some insane religion. Maybe it was because he didn't seem like someone who knew how to cuss fluently in six different languages. Maybe it was because when Hidan smiled, he didn't seem like someone who basked in pain and misery, someone who wasn't immortal.

And as much as Kakuzu hated to admit it, he'd do almost anything to see Hidan's smile.

Even not fight, be nice, and let the immortal keep something to himself.

All for that smile.

* * *

"Maybe if you weren't such a reckless idiot, I wouldn't have to stitch you up this much," Kakuzu muttered, digging his coarse black thread through Hidan's ice white skin, the partially joined arm resting on his knee.

They were sitting on the forest floor, the stone cold body of a rogue ninja lying not three feet away from them, Hidan's scythe plunged through his chest. Hidan himself had had his arm cut of by the nin in his final moments, and now, Kakuzu was the one repairing the immortal.

As he always did.

Hidan grimaced as a wave of pain shit through his arm. "Look, I already said I as fucking sorry. How the hell was I suppose to know some insane rogue bastard would come for us?" he demanded, flinching again as Kakuzu pulled the thread back out.

The miser paused, the thread hovering in mid air. "Can't you feel chakra or anything?" he asked tiredly, then sending the thread down into Hidan's arm again a bit too roughly. Working with the zealot was so exhausting...from his various injuries to the fact he seemed to never notice someone until they were almost upon him.

"OW! THAT FUCKING HURTS, DAMMIT!" Hidan yelled, trying to yank his arm away. But his nerves hadn't completely connected, so he could only jerk it back an inch or so. "Damn...and yeah, I can fucking feel chakra, dumbass."

Kakuzu sighed and rubbed at his temples, sending the thread back in with only one hand. "Then why didn't you noticed him?

Hidan flushed and looked away. "I dunno...I was thinking?"

He hadn't sworn. Interesting.

"About what?"

"Not saying."

Kakuzu frowned. Really, Hidan was such a little child...."Alright, I won't force you to."

He finished sewing Hidan's arm on, and pulled his thread away. They still had to wait a moment or so, just to make sure all the nerves had connected, but he was just about done.

Hidan looked at him curiously.

"What?"

"You..you're not going to make me tell you why I didn't notice that dammed attack?" he asked, his voice quiet, which was strange in itself. And the worse word he'd used was dammed...normally, he'd find some way to fit "fuck" or "shit" into the sentence.

Kakuzu smiled under his mask, and shook his head. "I don't need to quiz you. I'm sure I've done the same thing at least once."

The immortal blinked, once, twice. Then he smiled.

* * *

Another thing about Hidan, besides his smile. He had these moments were he _wasn't_ Hidan. He was quieter, softer and was more pleasant to be around.

Kakuzu slowly found out that if he allowed the immortal some more space, and actually tried to talk to him, not just about their mission or the blood on their carpet, then Hidan would become that different Hidan.

Slowly, the miser began to open up to Hidan, telling him about his past, and how he had come to the Akatsuki. And the albino...

He was different around Kakuzu then. Quieter, nicer, and generally rather pleasant. Kakuzu found himself liking this Hidan.

Falling in love with him, actually.

All because of a smile.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** If you guys can't tell by this point, my favorite pairing is KakuHidan. So when I saw this theme, that was all I wanted to do.

It's always so sad when your fav pairing has as small of a fanbase as Kakuzu and Hidan do.

AND that's the fourteenth theme! Tell me what you think!


	15. Silence

For once, Deidara wasn't talking, and it was driving Sasori up the wall.

Normally, he'd given anything for the quiet, but now that it actually was....well...it was making him more than a little annoyed.

They were sitting in their bedroom at the base, Sasori at his desk, working on a puppet, Deidara playing with his clay in the corner, facing Sasori, back pressed up against the wall. The only noise came from Sasori adjusting the puppet's hinges and screws. But it was quiet besides that.

_Very_ quiet...

Finally, Sasori couldn't take it anymore, and he whipped around, red hair tangled and knotty from all the times he'd dug his hand through it in frustration, trying to figure out the reason for his partner's silence. "What the hell is the matter with you, brat?!"

Deidara jerked his head up, eyes wide as he gaped at Sasori. His clay had fallen to the floor in his shock at being spoken to so suddenly, the thud softened by the thick carpeting, and his hair, untied for once, draped elegantly over one of his thin shoulders.

The red head glared at his partner. "You haven't said a word all day!" he snapped. "What is wrong, Deidara?" he continued, his tone softening dramatically. After all, he wanted answers, not to scare the poor kid....

The blonde frowned, and pointed at his throat, an annoyed look clear on his usually smiling face, blue eyes slighted clouded by something. Sasori's eyebrows knit together. Something was up...it finally clicked, and he grinned, gray eyes almost amused.

"You have a cold, huh?"

Deidara nodded vigorously, blonde hair bouncing from the movement.

"And you lost your voice because of it."

Another nod.

"Can I help?"

Deidara's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open again. Sasori, offering to _help_?

What was going on?

Sasori noticed the blonde's look of shock and sighed. "Oh come on, Dei. You need some kind of medicine, and luckily for you, I have something right here that helps with that kind of stuff."

Typical Deidara...kid had probably gone flying in another rainstorm or something. Now Sasori had to put up with the silence he had longed for, but now that he had it, he wished that Deidara was on one of his usual rants about nothing in particular.

Strange.

With that thought still going through his head, Sasori turned back to his desk, digging through the desk. Curious, Deidara got to his feet and walked over, looking over the red head's shoulder. Sasori grinned when he finally found what he was looking for, and he drew out a small bottle.

Deidara narrowed his eyes, studying it. The glass was dark green, glowing softly under Sasori's lamp, and on the side was written "Herbal Relief" in Sasori's loopy, graceful handwriting.

The red head pulled the black plug out, and turned the bottle over, shaking out a few tiny pills. Holding out his hand, he picked through it, setting aside two of the small, green and brown pills before dumping the rest back.

He then held them up to Deidara. "Take this, then go to bed. Your voice will be back by morning."

Deidara blinked, before taking the pills from Sasori and gulping them down, grimacing at their bitter taste as he forced them down.

"Now go to bed," the red head chided, getting his feet and pushing the blonde over to the bed gently, forcing the bomber to lie down while the Akasuna sat at the edge of the bed,

Deidara rubbed at his eyes, suddenly feeling exhausted. He gave Sasori a weak smile, then shut his eyes slowly, slipping away into sleep.

Sasori smiled when he heard his partner's breathing even out and deeper. Reaching out one tentative hand, Sasori gently twined his pale fingers in the blonde's long hair. The blonde strands were silky and cool, and Sasori began to relax a bit. This quiet was much better than he'd thought. He'd got to get closer to the blonde than he'd normally allow himself, and it was a rare moment to see Deidara look so peaceful, eyes closed and his breathing light.

Maybe this silence wasn't so bad.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Not surprisingly, I'm not happy with the way this came out.

In fact, I think this is the worse one of the themes so far. But that's just me and my mindset.


	16. Questioning

Dear Hinata-

I should be telling you this to your face. But I'm a coward, so I can't. Which is why you are reading this, because I have to tell you, in some way.

I suppose you know...but then again, sometimes you can be so clueless. You're like Naruto in that sense, just brighter. That's confusing, I know. Don't bother trying to work it out, I'm not sure what I mean there, either.

Anyway...remember the day we graduated the ninja academy? You were hoping to be put on the same team as Naruto. You should have seen the look on your face when Iruka said that he would be working with Sasuke and Sakura. You looked like you were going to cry.

...God, why does this have to be so dammed hard? You're my best friend, I should be able to say anything to you.

But I'm not able to say this, dammit.

That was a bad place to start with.

Remember the night when we had Gai's team over at our house and the sand sibs came to join us? Gaara and Lee started making out right in front of us. You were blushing so hard, I was sure you were going to pass out.

Two people kissed me that night. TenTen, before Mr I'm-so-not-jealous Neji snatched her back and shoved his own slimy tongue down her throat. How can you be related to a jerk like that?

You missed that one. I think you were getting a drink for Temari.

But you saw the other one. The one where Kankuro kissed me. Fucking bastard. First TenTen and then _him_?!

You know the little hand thing kids are doing now? The "awkward turtle" thing? Awkward turtle, swimming in the sea. Awkward turtle, just the friend for me. Or something like that.

That was a complete awkward turtle moment. I was pretty sure I was going to die from embarrassment. Make that a "dead turtle" moment, then.

You thought I was gay for the longest time. And while I admit to being bi, I'm pretty dammed certain about one thing.

There's no question as to what I feel for you, Hinata.

Yeah, I _know_ you think Kankuro's fucking me, or some shit like that. Don't deny it, it's pretty obvious. Little yaoi fangirl....when did you even discover that stuff?

For one: I hate the dammed bastard. So what if he saved me from that creepy sound guy? He's a complete moron. He lives in the fucking _desert_ and he wears black for crying out loud!

And what the hell is up with his face paint?! Kabuki paint...worn for medical reasons....my ass, he just another fucking cross dresser, putting on his sister's pantyhose on weekends....

...Yeah. Awkward turtle.

Look, Hinata. I'm not denying that I like both girls _and_ guys, because I know you're bi too. I _saw_ you checking out TenTen's ass.

We're both questioning that. We're both trying to figure out that kind of shit, like most kids our age are doing. Just like Naruto figured out he's gay, after how many years of crushing on Sakura? Same with Lee and Gaara.

...This letter is getting to be completely full of "awkward turtle" moments. You're blushing like mad, aren't you.

I'm not writing this to embarrass you, Hinata.

What I'm trying to say is...I'm in love with you.

Yet another turtle moment, though I think this may be a cheesy turtle.

Yeah. That's right. I love you, Hinata. So stop worrying about me dating Kankuro, or if I'll discover you're bi (which I have known since we were five, by the way). There's really nothing to question there.

I'm in love with you, Hinata, and that's all that really matters.

Love (plus yet another turtle),

Kiba

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Re wrote this one.

SO....I can't believe I wrote hentai.

ANyway...mainly, I made Kiba bi because I have three favorite pairings for him, in order: KibaHina, KankuKiba, and ShinoKiba.

This fic's just a letter to Hinata explaining that Kiba's in love with her, even though he is bi.

....makes no sense, but I need sleep.

And yes, STL and TTR are in progress, they're just being stupid again so this was easier to write.


	17. Blood

Hidan smiled down at his most recent victim, the now dead man's blood dripping like bloody rain and falling to the grass. The man himself was stark white, blood dripping from his mouth, his face twisted up in a silent scream.

Nearby, Kakuzu sighed and shook his head, ignoring his paper. He had to admit, that sadistic smile that his partner was no wearing was captivating, the moon making his eyes glow to an almost unearthly light, the lavender iris's alright with the fascination of death he always had towards it.

A metal pole stuck out of the immortal's chest, the silver metal shining harshly under the bright moonlight. Blood clogged up the metal, staining it to crimson.

Hidan didn't seem to notice the thing. After all, it wasn't like the wound was going to kill him or anything, but Kakuzu always wondered how the silver haired man could be as calm as he was about having a weapon sticking out of his chest as he was.

Blood dripped from his silver hair, and stained his chin, but he'd didn't seem to notice. His pale skin glowed under the moon, and he looked more peaceful than Kakuzu had seen him look in a while.

It made him look eerie, different...like an angel, really.

Kakuzu swiftly shook his head. He wasn't suppose to have thoughts like that, especially for his partner...

"Hey, are you almost done?" the miser called over. He hated how much time the Jashinist's rituals took up; already he'd been waiting for half an hour.

Hidan twisted his head to give him a glare. "No, dammit!"

Kakuzu sighed and rubbed his temples. "Hidan, he's dead. You got your pain. Can we leave?"

Hidan scoffed, grabbing the pole with one hand and yanking out, grunting from the pain. "No! I still need to finish my fucking prayers!"

"Can't you do that later? It's getting late." Kakuzu got to his feet, shaking his head.

Hidan frowned. He was swaying by now, the color drained from his face. Kakuzu was amazed he was still standing, seeing how much blood the immortal had lost.

"No!"

"You're just going to pass out soon enough," Kakuzu sighed, tugging at the edges of his mask.

Hidan opened his mouth to speak, when suddenly his eyes rolled back into skull. His body went limp, and he began to fall.

Kakuzu sent his threads forward quickly, catching the albino before he hit the cold, blood stained grass. Gently, he drew them back to him, still holding Hidan, and then took his partner from them, allowing them to retreat into his body.

He slipped one arm under Hidan's legs, the other behind his back. Shaking his head, he walked away, still holding his partner.

"Told ya, dummy."

He smiled slightly under his mask and held his partner closer, listening to hos soft breathing, and the immortal's head flopped to the side, resting against Kakuzu's chest.

"But then again, you were always stubborn...and you look so good, covered in blood..."

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I mean, no way can you connect this theme to Kakuzu and Hidan, can you? It just doesn't fit in with them, does it.

Okay, I'm good. Yes, another KakuHidan. Yay!


	18. Rainbow

"Hey, look at that!" Tobi called, pointing out the window. It was another rainy Sunday afternoon, and the whole Akatsuki was bored.

In the corner, backs pressed to the wall, Sasori and Deidara were flipping through a book together, and if Tobi craned his neck, he could see the title was something about fairies.

Hidan and Kakuzu were sitting on the sofa, playing 21, and Kakuzu was winning, Hidan looking frustrated, and he kept running one hand through his silver hair.

Kisame and Itachi were quietly discussing tactics, arguing about them, but looking peaceful at the same time, and they were sitting on the other sofa, Itachi's pale arms wrapped around a pillow as he spoke in his usual quiet voice.

Sitting on the floor, in front of the small coffee table, were Pein and Konan, going through old reports and editing them.

And Zetsu...was off in the kitchen, eating something that seemed to require a butcher knife to hold it down.

At Tobi's words, Deidara got to his feet, shoving the book off him, onto the couch, and walking over to the window. His eyes widened. "Wow, Tobi, un! It's pretty!" the blonde exclaimed, before turning to face Sasori. "Sasori danna, come see!"

Sasori grumbled under his breath, but got to his feet anyway and joined the blonde and masked teen at the window. "Wow..."

"Has it stopped raining _yet_?!" Hidan called from the sofa, just as Kakuzu took his last five dollars.

"Yep Come see, un!" Deidara called, blonde hair bouncing in his excitement, blue eyes glowing with delight.

Kakuzu frowned and looked up from his cards, ignoring Hidan's mutterings about how he had to be cheating. "See what?"

Deidara hurried over to them, grinning. "The sky, un!" he proclaimed happily as he grabbed the two immortal's arm and hauled them to their feet, dragging them to the window, Hidan loudly protesting, Kakuzu sighing.

Hidan's rants stopped the moment he saw the sky. "Damn...you were fucking right, blondie. That _is_ pretty."

Deidara grinned. "Told ya, un. Come see, Itachi, Kisame!"

Sighing, Itachi placed the pillow aside and got to his feet, walking over to the window, Kisame just behind him. Black eyes scanned the sky as a small smile tugged at the Uchiha's lips. "Beautiful..." he whispered. Kisame nodded in agreement, a smile stretched across his face.

"Can we see?" Pein asked, dropping the hefty stack of paper to the table and getting to his feet, Konan following him.

"Sure," Sasori said, moving out of the way so the leader and his partner could better reach the window. "Zetsu should see this..."

"He's already looking at it!" Tobi interrupted, pointing the wall outside of the hideout.

Indeed, when the other members looked, they could see Zetsu's head poking out of the wall, golden eyes fixed on the sky.

Across the now clear blue sky was painted a rainbow, the colors shining under the sun. As the last drips of rain dried up, the rainbow's colors increased, becoming so vivid they almost hurt to look at.

They whole Akatsuki stood there, and watched the sky until the rainbow had completely faded, leaving them feeling peaceful and happier than they had been in a while.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** This is for ~sasukex4xeva, as life has been treating her rough lately.

I love the image of the whole Akatsuki just watching the rainbow like little kids. It's kinda sweet.


	19. Gray

RED

Sasori's hair was so bright it hurt Deidara's eyes to look at it sometimes...but it still didn't change that when he was sure Sasori was fast asleep, he'd reach over and twist the bright red locks around his slender fingers, enjoying the silkiness of the vivid strands.

ORANGE:

It never failed to amuse Zetsu at how color blind Tobi was, wearing his orange mask with a pumpkin outfit.

YELLOW:

Sasori had never really been fond of the color yellow, but watching the sun bounce off of his partner's blonde hair, he decided that maybe he could learn to like it.

GREEN:

Tobi always thought that Zetsu's hair looked just like a patch of healthy grass...which was why he'd often bite the plant man's head whenever he glomped him.

BLUE:

Itachi had always admired Kisame's lovely blue sky and hair...made his own looks seem rather ordinary. It wasn't everyday you met someone with skin the color of the sky, hair the deep aqua of the ocean.

LAVENDER:

Hidan had the most beautiful eyes, Kakuzu decided, watching his partner gaze at the sunset, lavender iris's glowing with delight at the beauty before him.

BROWN:

Hidan loved Kakuzu's hair, the way it twisted in small curls, the color, and on the rare times he was allowed to run his fingers through it, the softness.

BLACK:

Itachi had to be one of the most beautiful people on earth, Kisame thought. His pale skin...his dark eyes and hair...heaven and hell clashed within the Uchiha, making him completely unique.

GRAY:

When Deidara is upset, his eyes turn gray, and Sasori knows this is his chance to get close to the blonde, if only to comfort him.

WHITE:

Hidan's hair fascinates Kakuzu; that someone as bloodthirsty and crazy as the immortal can look so pure and innocent.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** This theme was SUPPOSE to be gray...but then again, I was never very good at following the rules, was I?


	20. Fortitude

Deidara had an amazing inner strength.

Sasori wasn't sure how the blonde did it, but he was always, _always_, so optimistic, so cheerful, even when the odds were against him.

It was like he had inner light, telling him how to get through something. Sure, sometimes that voice was wrong, made him get into trouble, but somehow, Deidara managed to keep smiling. Sasori couldn't help but admire him for that.

---

"Dammit..." Sasori hissed, maneuvering his puppet so it was protecting both him and Deidara. Deidara himself was crouching down, holding onto a bleeding arm, a look of pain of his face as he tried to slow the flow of crimson liquid.

Two three man teams, a mix of genin and chunin, surrounded the two Akatsuki, and one of them had managed to get close enough to the blonde to actually inflict some damage on him.

"How are we going to get out of this?" Sasori wondered aloud as he sent his stomach cable through a young chunin female's torso, spraying her crimson blood everywhere and covering both red head and blonde, but they were already so bloody it didn't matter much.

"It...it will be alright danna, un," he heard Deidara gasp out, and he twisted his neck to look at his young partner as he gutted another nin, this time right through the skull.

"How can you say that, Dei, with the odds were up against?!"

Deidara gave the red head a weak smile as he got to his feet, rummaging in his clay pouch with his good hand. "Because if we give up, it'll all be over, un. We just have to keep fighting, and we will win, un."

It really was strange...even when Hidan had just cussed him out, even when Pein had thrown a fit, even when Sasori was in a foul mood and throwing him out of the room, Deidara stayed so...cheerful about it all.

Sasori wondered how he could do it. Not many people thought like the blonde (after all, his view on art was completely wrong) and trying to understand Deidara was like trying to understand eternity, or time, or death.

It was impossible.

Eventually, Sasori decided that Deidara stayed so happy because he had a strength in doing that; staying bright when all was dark. He was like a light, and his power to brighten things always made Sasori feel better.

It was the blonde's fortitude, his strength, his power.

His gift.

And the reason why Sasori loved him so much.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** UTTER FAIL


	21. Vacation

Pein leaned back in his beach chair as he took another sip of his cocktail. Konan lounged on the chair next to him, looking out over the ocean, her hair for once put down, and she was wearing a swimsuit.

"This is nice," she commented as she rubbed in more sunblock onto her arm.

Pein smiled. "Yeah. The others were nice, to let us have a break..."

Konan twisted her neck and smiled at the orange haired man. "This is heaven, even if we do get back to find that Deidara blew up the base again."

"He'd better not have," Pein said, shuddering.

Konan smiled at him as she put her lotion aside and picked up her book, a cheesy romance that made Pein want to gag. "I'm sure Sasori will keep him in line."

---

BOOM

"DAMMIT, UN!' Deidara could be heard yelling throughout the base, but everyone else was rather too busy to deal with the blonde. Hidan and Kakuzu were fighting over something stupid (again), Zetsu showing Tobi how to trim a plant properly, Kisame and Itachi reading in their room. Sasori was in his and Deidara's shared room, working on a puppet.

Sasori sighed and got up from his desk, dropping his newest puppet's arm to the cool wood as he made his way over to the door.

"What did you do this time?" he yelled down the hall, and Deidara's head appeared on the stairwell, looking sheepish.

"I...I blew up the stove, un..."

The red head rolled his eyes. "Again? You didn't need to bother us for that, brat."

"No, I also blew up the fridge, un...." Deidara said quietly, walking down the hall, looking nervous. Oddly, looking nervous only enhanced the blonde's good looks, making him seem even more cute and girly, if that was possible.

"That's still not that bad..."

"And the pantry, un," the blonde was biting back a smile.

"Anything else?" Sasori asked, running a hand through his hair. He and Kakuzu were in charge of the base while Konan and Pein were on their vacation, and if Deidara had destroyed much more, he'd be in for a lot of trouble when the two got back.

"No, danna. At least not from the kitchen, un."

Sasori pressed a hand to his forehead. "Dei, just write out a list with what you blew up and give it to Kakuzu. He'll figure out the damage costs."

"Danna!" Deidara protested. "That'll take all night! And a lot of paper, un."

Sasori looked up at his partner, raising one eyebrow. "How much stuff _did_ you blow up?"

"About five rooms full of furniture, un," Deidara whispered, looking down at the ground.

"...You are so dead when Leader gets back."

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I hate this one, seriously hate it.


	22. Mother Nature

It was raining.

Not just that drizzle, that drizzle that kids love, that soft pounding of rain that inspired so many poems, that steady, light downpour that movie producers used for their love confession scenes.

No, it was downpour, the heavy drops pounding into Kisame and Itachi as they walked down the road, looking in vain for a inn.

Alas, they were in the middle of the woods, the trees aspen that provided no protection from the weather. The road was deserted, the other rare travelers having already found some dry place to spend the night.

Itachi's hair was pressed to his scalp, his skin paler than normal and clammy. Kisame, walking behind the weasel, sighed.

Itachi had lost his hat during the mission, thanks to their targets talents at fire jitsus. Which meant the Uchiha had nothing to protect his head from the rain pounding down on him.

The dark Akatsuki cloak clung to the weasel's thin frame, and Kisame could see his partner trembling. Itachi retained heat almost as well as Hidan did, which was not at all, to say the least.

Itachi coughed and wrapped his arms around his torso. Kisame rolled his eyes as he pulled his hat off, quickly picking up his pace so he was walking next to his partner. Without saying a word, he dropped the hat onto the shaking teen's head.

Itachi pulled the hat over his face and blinked the water from his eyes. "Thanks, Kisame."

"No problem."

"...I fucking hate Mother Nature..." Itachi mumbled, drawing his cloak closer to his body and glaring at the muddy road.

The shark whacked the back of the boy's head gently. "Don't say that; she just might make the rain get worse."

Itachi opened his mouth to speak, but only let out a small squeak of shock and pain. Hail was now coming down on the two Akatsuki members, hard things of the palest, brightest white.

Quickly, Kisame grabbed the Uchiha's arm and pulled him under a rare pine tree, away from the biting balls of ice. The shark grinned as he and his partner shook out their clothing, water dripping off onto the dry ground below. "See what I mean?"

"...Hn. She hates me."

Kisame smiled and shook his head as his partner pulled off his drenched cloak and threw it a good three feet to his right. "Told ya not to jinx it."

Itachi paused, and turned his black gaze on his partner. "Yes, you did, and you gave me your hat. But that doesn't change the fact that Mother Nature hates me."

The shark chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. Go to sleep, I'll take first watch."

Itachi nodded, and lay down on the ground, his cloak spread out on the dried pine needles a few feet away, shutting his eyes.

Kisame watched his partner as he heard his breathing even out and saw his face relax. Gently, the shark reached one hand out and drew it through the Uchiha's soaked black locks. "Don't be stupid, Itachi. How could anyone hate you?"

* * *

**Author's Comments:** This was going to be a KakuHi, but then someone asked when I was going to write KisaIta...so...idea had to be changed...it was going to be bloody...


	23. Cat

Sasori didn't like cats.

He preferred dogs by nature, their big tongues, their moist golden eyes, their long shaggy coats.

Konan was a cat person. And she didn't like the fact that Sasori made it clear that he hated the creatures she adored.

But she did know something he did like...a certain crazy blonde thing....and Konan was going to use that to convert the red head to cat-ism.

At all costs.

---

"DANNA!" Deidara wailed, pounding on the door.

Sasori rolled his eyes as he shoved his chair away from his desk, slumping his shoulders over as he trudged to the door. What was going on this time...

He slowly opened the heavy oak door and peeked around it. The hallway was dimmer than usual, and he couldn't see his partner. "Dei?"

The door flew open, and Sasori barely had time to get out of the way before a yellow and black blur shoved by him, heading for the bed. Sasori sighed as he saw his partner curl into a ball, pulling the pillows over his head.

"What happened?"

"SHUT UP, UN!"

Sasori rolled his eyes again as he worked his hand along the wall, searching for the light switch. It was dim in the room, too dim to see what the blonde was hiding.

And just the fact that the blonde was hiding something made Sasori suspicious. Deidara never hid anything, always told everything to his red haired partner.

So why...

CLICK

He had found the switch, and suddenly the room was filled with a warm light. Deidara let out a muffled yelp at the sudden brightness and buried his head into the pillows, drawing his legs even closer to his body.

Sasori made his way over to the bed and sat down at the edge of it, bedsprings creaking nosily. "Alright Dei, tell me. What's wrong?"

"I'm not telling, un," Deidara voice came, muffled by the two thick pillows hiding his head. He was lying face up, his blonde hair peeking just below the edges of the pillowcases.

Sasori narrowed his eyes as he reached one hand forward, resting it on the pillow. 'Dei...:" he warned.

"No, un!"

The red head shook his head, and with one fluid motion had snatched both pillows from the blonde's face and thrown them across the room.

Deidara sat up slowly, fury painted on his face as Sasori gaped at him.

Two soft black ears poked out of the bomber's tangled mass of hair, the insides tinted light pink. White fur brushed the tip of the ears. A cat tail, sleek and thin, as black as the night, curled it's way up and brushed the very tip against the blonde's nose. Deidara frowned and hissed at him; when he opened his mouth, Sasori could see that the blonde's canines had grown sharper and longer.

"You're a cat," the Akasuna choked out, eyes wide.

Deidara frowned at him and flicked his tail. "No duh, un. Konan did this to me."

Sasori cocked his head, not wanting to take his eyes away from Deidara. Damn, he was so cute with those ears and tail... 'Why?"

Deidara scoffed and tilted his head back to look at the ceiling. "Who knows, un. But she said only you can break the jitsu."

"How?"

The blonde shrugged. "Go ask her, un."

---

"KONAN!" Sasori bellowed, barging through the kitchen door to find the blue haired woman there, trying to figure out how you heated up a can of instant soup.

She glanced up at him, a smile across her face. "You like how Dei looks now?" she asked cheekily, setting the pot back on the stove, unopened can of soup nest to it.

He glared at her. "I'll admit, he is cute this way..." he hissed. 'But how do I change him back?"

Konan's already wide smile grew wider. "Simple. You have to kiss him. On the lips."

"....You're kidding."

"Nope!"

---

Deidara looked up hopefully when he heard Sasori enter their bedroom.. The red head was blushing, _blushing_. What about?

"Danna, what's going---" the bombers next few words were cut off by Sasori pressing a finger to his lips, the red head leaned forward, his face only an inch from Deidara's.

'Sorry, Dei. This is the only way," Sasori breathed, and Deidara's brow knitted together. What did that mean?

Sasori suddenly drew his finger away, and then that cold, smooth finger was replaced by warm lips. Deidara's eyes widened as he felt something tingle through his whole body, sending electric shocks up and down his spine.

Sasori hadn't expected the blonde's lips to be so warm...and soft...so even though he'd promised the kiss would only last for a moment, it lasted for nearly ten seconds before Sasori drew back, smirking at the stunned Deidara.

Then Deidara slowly grabbed Sasori's collar and pulled him down again, pressing their lips together once again.

Neither noticed that the ears and tail didn't vanish, and the soft black tail waved around happily as the blonde and red head kissed again.

---

Konan cackled as she watched the tape, a bowl of piping hot soup, which she had gotten Itachi to heat up for her, balanced on her knee.

Smiling, she hit the replay button as she spooned another scoop of chicken noodle into her mouth. "Too bad...It'll take more than a kiss, Sasori," she grinned at the screen. "I'm holding out for some major yaoi, man!"

She paused, smiling wider. "And now, I think you'll like cats."

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Crappy crappy crappy...but thought it was funny, anyway.


	24. No Time

I can't see anymore.

Everything is black...black...black...That's all I'm going to see, for the rest of my life.

This came on gradually. I didn't notice at first. Maybe if I hadn't, I wouldn't have noticed what was happening to my eyes, until my sight, which used to be so sharp and clear, dulled, colors blending together, until it faded and I would still be surrounded by this black.

Kisame was the one to see what was happening to me. And I'm glad that it was him to see it, not someone else.

I don't know when he noticed it first...maybe it was when I dropped the vase that Konan had asked me to fill with water for some flowers she had picked. It was a pretty thing, warped blue and light glass, the texture smooth beneath my hands.

It slipped from my hands when I tripped over one of Tobi's many coloring books lying around. I've never tripped before. I fell, the vase smashing at my feet into sparkling pieces of broken color that caught and held light, sending it around the kitchen in amazing patterns.

But Kisame caught me before I hit the sharp glass, saved me.

Or maybe he noticed when I let an enemy run right by me, without me noticing the nin's presence at all. It nearly got me killed, my inattention. The man had swung his kunai at me, and I would have died.

But Kisame jumped in and sliced him up before he could even scratch me.

Now, as I blink hard, praying for the black clouds to leave like they do after rain, I can feel my own rain welling up in my eyes, and the feeling burns hard and fierce.

It hurts to know I can't see, and never will again.

I can't see Kisame anymore, and while he's so kind to me about my little problem...I just wish...that once more...I could see his face. Then the clouds could come back, forever, so long as my partner's face is burned into my minds eye, I don't care.

Kisame is worried for me. My brother is out for my death, and I can't see. I don't have much time left...none at all, really.

I can't die....I _can't_. Kids my age are suppose to go through an awkward phase and grow out of it...not be blind, in love with a giant shark, and about to be killed by the only family they have left.

Kisame has to stay here though. Even if I die...Kisame has to live his life.

Please, Kisame. Use your time like I couldn't.

And...remember that...I love you...

Itachi Uchiha

---

Kisame shut the journal and leaned his head back, sighing as he felt something burn behind his eyes as he shut them slowly.

Itachi was dead.

Sasuke had killed him, and Kisame had just buried his much smaller partner in a shallow grave by a pounding, beautiful waterfall.

When he got back to their shared room, feeling lost and cracked, his soul broken, he almost hadn't noticed the small journal lying on the desk. On the dark blue cover lay a sheet of pale red paper, with only a few words printed on it in fine, curling handwriting.

_For Kisame._

And now, this small book, and that dying wish, was all that Kisame had left of his partner. His dead friend, who he loved more than anyone.

Itachi was gone, had no time left anymore.

But wanted Kisame to use what he had, while he had it.

He would live out his time, then meet Itachi, where ever the weasel had gone.

He had to.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I really, really need more sleep, don't I?


	25. Trouble Lurking

He was perfectly sane until Jashin found him.

His whole life, something had been following him. He wasn't sure what, only that it was dangerous, and may very well kill him. So he avoided the dark thing in the back of his mind, putting his all into his life, trying to not think about anything other than mundane things.

Things often happen when you try to avoid them.

It happened on a battlefield. In the shinobi world, everything started and ended on the battlefield. Your life didn't begin until your first battle, and your life was ended when you fought your last battle, whether you died or not. Ninjas married on the battlefield, covered in blood. They were joined by death they created, and the death that would separate them.

He had watched his best friend Ikaika die in front of him, followed by Ikaika's girlfriend Mitsuna. Ikaika died by his own weapon, as a shadow user forced him to stab himself. Mitsuna was torn apart by a wind jitsu moments after Ikaika died.

He snapped, and tore all the enemies, well over thirty of them, to pieces, like Mitsuna had been. Gathering his friends' bodies, he set up a bonfire, placing them gently in the flames, leaving all the others to rot in the sun.

As the smell of burned flesh hit his nose, a voice spoke in his head, quiet and almost understanding.

_They are dead._

"Obviously," Hidan snarled, scrubbing at his burning eyes. "I couldn't fucking save them! They were going to get married soon, and now they're fucking dead!"

_It's because you are weak._

Hidan scoffed, picking up Ikaika's scythe, the only weapon his friend has ever fought with. The three blades caught the afternoon sunlight, illuminating Ikaika's blood on the metal. "Yeah, so I'm fucking weak. So I couldn't save them."

_There will be others you cannot save. I can make it so you can, Hidan._

Hidan smiled bitterly. "The only way you can save any bastard important to you is if you're fucking immortal."

_Well...do you want to be immortal? It's a simple request._

Hidan paused in gathering his friends' belongings. "What...would I have to do?"

_Be loyal to me, and only me. Worship me, sacrifice to me. Be mine, Hidan, and the immortality is yours._

---

Often, getting into trouble once can lead you to more.

Hidan was granted his immortality by the voice, and told of the rituals and prayers he must do to be a loyal follower of Jashin. He killed, using Ikaika's scythe. He drank blood instead of water.

His sanity was gone as the years passed, and his body showed no sign of age. He was close to fifty now, but he was still twenty, and would remain so for the rest of time.

He was terrified by it. Eternity seemed too much, and he wished he could go back to the bloody field and say no. But he was Jashin's now. No death was allowed for any of Jashin's followers.

He killed. People tried to kill him, and they always died by his hand. Death was becoming something he could laugh about as his mind wore away. He wasn't the only insane ninja wandering the country. Another one was, and Hidan kept his eye out for a red haired teen, with a body count in the thousands. He wanted to fight a madman, prove he was still not insane, that he knew what he was doing, even as he killed.

He didn't know.

Soon, people came for him. Auburn hair, blue hair, and brown hair. Those were the only names Hidan would call them by for a long time.

He was partnered with brown hair. The man was angry, at life, with him, and they fought often, furling his insanity within.

The red haired teen came to Akatsuki during that time. The one Hidan had been looking for. At first, he was impressed with the state of the other teen. He sang, he laughed like a maniac, he danced, he killed. He was in deeper than Hidan was, so insane he couldn't tell friend from foe.

But the teen was healing, and soon, he was normal, working on puppets instead of wild dances in bloody fields. Hidan found it disappointing that the small blonde was healing the wild red head.

Brown hair, his partner, warmed up to Hidan. They didn't fight so much. But brown hair didn't save him like blondie had the red head. Well, he did. It just wasn't as obvious.

Hidan soon found himself in love with brown hair. Kakuzu. He had a name.

But Jashin didn't like love.

Everything would go wrong for Hidan if he said he loved him. He wanted to tell him, badly. But Jashin was always watching, always there, so he couldn't.

So he broke further, driving deeper into his mind as his soul cracked. And Jashin, who was suppose to be his savior, merely watched.

He should have never replied to the voice. It was now breaking his heart.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** It's crap. No yelling, please.


	26. Tears

I was scared of what they were going to do to me.

I'm chained to the cold stone wall, the cuffs biting into my thin, pale wrists hard enough to draw blood, and it runs in a slow crimson river down one shaking arm. The rust bites into my cuts, and it stings.

My arms feel like they're on fire, my whole body bruised and bloody. My lip is cracked; the sharp taste of iron only helps to remind me of where I was, and it doesn't help.

The pain isn't what I'm worried about.

No, it's that stranger, that person that kidnapped me when I wasn't paying attention, complaining as usual, even though Kakuzu had told me to shut up. He just....jumped out of the trees, his partner, another nin of high level, attacked Kakuzu while he jabbed at my jugular, knocking me out.

When I came to, I was already here, in this room, chained to this icy wall. And what was worse, my cloak is missing, and I don't like that look in the man's eyes as he advances towards me, already fingering the snaps on his trousers, twirling a key around his other finger.

---

I can't find him.

That nin got away, shortly after attacking me, and his sudden attack and disappearance left me confused. Why do that?

Then I turned around, prepared to yell at Hidan for some trivial matter, only to see...he isn't there.

They just wanted Hidan, then.

They wanted _my_ Hidan, even though I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel the same way I do. He doesn't know, nor care, probably.

But still.

He's my partner, and he is the one who means everything to me, corny as that sounds. And now, I need to save him.

---

I'm fighting back the tears as the nin grabs his clothes before lazily grinning down at me. I'm unchained, lying on the floor, but it doesn't matter. There is no way I can move now, with burning flashes of pain roaring through my body every time I try to move. My clothes lay in a corner, balled up, and since I no longer have them on, I can feel the bite of the cold air in this room right down to my bones.

After pulling on the dull gray pants, he kneels, and forces my chin up, pained lavender meeting smug hazel. He speaks to me slowly, his voice rough. "You're a good fuck, little guy. Well worth the trouble it took to get you."

He stands, and heads for the iron door, before turning to look at me, lazy grin still in place. "And don't think your partner will come for you. Guys like that never do anything that doesn't benefit them."

His words echo around the room as he unlocks the door and pulls it open, then steps outside, pulling it behind him and locking it once more. Not that I could escape right now, anyway.

His words ring in my head, and without warning, I begin to sob, tears coursing down my already tear-and-sweat stained cheeks, dripping off onto the bloodied ground. My face lays so it is pressed to the stonework, and I'm fighting my exhaustion.

He's right.

As much as I wish otherwise, Kakuzu won't come for me. He doesn't even like me, doesn't even know that he means the world to me, and he doesn't care.

He'll tell Pein some sob story, and I'll be left here, to live out the rest of my eternal life as some sex toy in this hellhole.

And he won't care.

I give into my exhaustion, and it leads me down a dark winding path, still filled with pain and betrayal.

---

I kill everyone who gets in my way as I push through the castle. Soon, everyone, or at least everyone I've met, is lying in pieces around the hallways, blood staining the rich carpet.

I followed Hidan's chakra to this place. There were brief flashes of something in it, but now, it's dying down, slowly. Which means he got hurt enough that if he was mortal, he would have died a long time ago.

I follow that trail down to stone stairs, and take them down, my right hand pressed to the wall. Soon, I come to a landing, a iron door the only thing on this level. I can feel that Hidan is down here, behind that door.

Summoning my threads, I tear the door off the hinges, and it crashes to the door as I push my way through the opening.

Hidan is lying stomach down on the stone, his clothes in a puddle a ways away.

I slowly walk over to him, noticing the blue tinge to his skin as I begin unbuttoning my cloak. When all the snaps are undone, I kneel besides him and carefully wrap it around him. Then, once I'm sure he's covered, I turn him over and gently pick him up.

He's out cold, his breathing labored as tears continue to stream down his face. Dirt is ingrained into his hairline, and his wrists and arms are covered in blood. He's shivering, and mumbling something under his breath, but I can't make out any words. His usually neatly slicked back hair is a mess, tangles and pieces falling into his face, and I gently brush them again, then my fingers linger on the blood by his mouth before slowly wiping that away, too.

I know what they did to him, and it makes me feel sick as I stand here, holding him gently to my chest, and all I can do is watch his pained expression.

I don't bother to grab his clothes; I have spares for him in his pack that I think he'll want more. So I leave this room, still keeping him close.

---

When I wake up, I'm surrounded by something warm and soft. My eyes struggle open completely, and I stare up at a rough cave wall.

I twitch a hand, and a flash of pain so strong goes through me that I yelp, the sound echoing in the room.

"So you finally woke up," a voice calls, and I look to my right, ignoring the pain that comes with the movement.

Kakuzu is sitting besides a fire, mask off and cloak in a pile on the other end of the room. He's just sitting crossed legged, watching me.

"K...a...kuzu..." I whisper, something, relief maybe, washing through me. He did come for me. He did save me.

He shakes his head. "Don't speak, Hidan."

But I keep trying. "Why....did you.....save me?"

He looks away, from what I'm not sure, so I struggle to a sitting position and crawl across the room. Once I reach Kakuzu, he looks over at me, and I force my way onto his lap. He looks surprised, but doesn't force me away. Rather, he wraps his own arms around me.

We're silent for a while, when Kakuzu breaks it again. "I didn't want to leave you there, Hidan."

I twist my neck to look at him, and bite back my cry. "But....you hate...me..."

Slowly, he shakes his head, and my eyebrows draw together.

"I don't hate you, Hidan," he whispers, grip on me tightening. "I could never hate you."

I think about this for a moment, then, with another twist if my neck, I press my lips to his. I only keep them there for a second, before pulling away and looking away again. "Thank...you, Kakuzu," I mumble, before I close my eyes and fall asleep in his arms.

And unlike before, this time, I'm safe, completely safe. Kakuzu is never going to let anything hurt me, and that thought is proven when he presses his lips to my forehead, the last thing I feel before I slip back into blackness.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I really don't write my age, do I?

Yes, I skipped over the next theme, because I wrote the story, THEN decided it was going to be posted as a theme.

But maybe I should let my age catch up to my writing before I write something like this again.


	27. Foreign

There were so many things about Hidan, it made him foreign to Kakuzu.

For one, Hidan slept. He fell asleep often, and in the most unlikely places- in the middle of a ritual, running from an enemy, even in during a fight. He just passed out as the nin stared at him. Kakuzu killed them all before they could get over their shock.

Kakuzu never slept. He saw it as a waste of time, time when he could have been collecting a bounty or finishing a mission. But since Hidan fell asleep, and carrying him was a pain, Kakuzu had nothing to do while waiting for the Jashinist to wake up.

So he slept.

Konan said he was more even tempered from it. Kisame and Sasori were more willing to be around a person who would kill you if you said the wrong thing.

He wasn't sure if it was good or bad, so left it at that.

Hidan was religious.

That was different. Kakuzu had never been a big fan of religion, seeing it as a scam set up by priests. But Hidan honestly believed in Jashin, and seeing how he couldn't be killed, Kakuzu had to admit there might be something out there.

Deidara asked him if something was wrong when Hidan had been treating him to a rant about Jashin- and he hadn't said a word to stop the immortal the whole time, sitting through it all.

Kakuzu wasn't sure if something was wrong. He was just listening to his partner talk.

Friendship was another thing Kakuzu didn't understand.

He supposed it felt like how he felt when he was around Hidan: relaxed and warm. He didn't have to always act distant to the immortal. They were just friends, and Hidan knew that, always talking to the miser about anything and everything.

And slowly, the warmth Kakuzu felt around Hidan grew.

He just didn't know this foreign feeling's name.  


* * *

"Kakuzu, seriously, un. Are you alright?" Deidara asked, crossing his arms over his chest. Kakuzu, sitting at the kitchen table, glanced up at him before returning to his money.

"Obviously. Why?"

"Because you're just so..." Deidara paused, looking nervous. "You're just so different lately, un. Almost fun to talk to."

"Almost fun?" Kakuzu asked dryly. "What, was I a boring old geezer before?"

"In all honesty, yes, un," Deidara replied, looking down. "It's just that you seem more relaxed now. Does it have something to do with Hidan coming, un?"

"Something to do with that foul mouthed, bad tempered priest?" Kakuzu mused. "Of course not. He pisses me off, I piss him off, we hate each other. He's like a foreign contaminate to me, Deidara."

"But you always talk to him!" Deidara shot back. "And you guys always talk about each other, un. Hidan _does_ have something to do with all this."

"Think whatever you want, Deidara," Kakuzu replied, turning back to the table. "I don't feel anything for him."

"You do, un!"

"What's going on?" Hidan called, stepping into the kitchen as he cracked his neck. "Jashin, blondie, you're so fucking loud...."

Deidara whirled to face the immortal, eyes wide before he turned slowly to face Kakuzu. "I'll prove it to you, un!" he declared, stomping over and grabbing the miser's arm, forcing him to stand as he dragged him over to Hidan.

"Whoa, blondie, what the fuck---"

Deidara shoved Kakuzu towards Hidan, hand quickly snagging the back of Hidan's neck and forcing the two's lips to meet.  


* * *

Three years later, Kakuzu had still been thinking about that day, even though it was responsible for where he was now.

He couldn't help but to blush every time he did. It wasn't like the blushes Deidara got when Sasori would hold him, but just a vague sprinkling of red across his cheeks.

Hidan was still foreign to him. He still didn't understand him.

But he did love him.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Just....cute...badly written fluff....


	28. Dying

**Note:** This is the first part of a short story. Also, this should be the 43th Theme, but to avoid confusion, I switched some of the themes, so that it'll make sense. Real title: Immortal Can't Die.

* * *

He can't die, he can't.... he can't!

He's immortal, right? I never thought...never would have dreamed of this.

But he's standing there, blood dripping from his lips as a look of utter horror spreads across his perfectly pale face. Silver hair, damp with blood, falls into his face as he looks down at the sword sticking out of his thin chest, the metal stained with his gushing flow of blood that drips like bloody rain to the grass.

He looks back up at me, lavender eyes wide as he tries to say something, but before he can, he falls to his knees, and falls forward, sword still stuck in his body.

I'm there before he hits ground, holding his bleeding frame. He looks delicate like this, so very breakable.... I don't like thinking of Hidan this way. He's suppose to be a constant. He's suppose to be strong, and forever.

Our enemy who stabbed him is dead, and we're alone as I flip him over and press a hand to his wound, trying to stop his blood flow, threads already tugging out of my arm.

He waves it away, tugging on my mask to pull me forward. When I'm close enough, he whispers five words that almost stops my heart in a rasp of a whisper, merely a shadow of his usual voice.

Jashin took away his immortality.

Which means...Hidan isn't going survive this one, this attack. He's not going to survive this stab wound, and though I know he's longed for death, I don't think he wanted to die this way.

I yank the sword from his steadily growing colder body, and he shudders in my arms as I throw aside. His breathing is harsh and uneven, eyes slowly shutting as his breath rattles in his bloody and ripped throat, the blood gurgling when air flows through it.

He isn't joking.

I clutch him tighter to my chest, running a hand through his hair, whispering under my breath rapidly as my own eyes shut tightly, not wanting to see him like this, so weak. I don't know if I'm praying; religion was always Hidan's thing, not mine.

But I am. I'm begging someone, something, _anything_, to save him.

My fingers rest lightly on his throat as my eyes snap open, his skin smooth and soft beneath my rough hands. He's so cold...I search for his pulse.

I can't find it.

I feel again, hoping to feel that small reassurance that may still be there, that Jashin didn't, that he's still immortal, that he isn't dead.

Nothing. No rise and fall to his chest, no beating in his heart. Panic is rising up in me now, and I try to push it back, but to no avail.

I place a hand over his lips, hoping to feel a rush of air, hoping to feel his breath tickling my skin.

There's nothing there, either.

I move him closer to me, stroking his hair automatically. While he was alive, I never had the chance to do this, and the silvery strands are as soft as they look.

But this feels hollow, and empty, because I can't hear him cussing me out, can't watch his gorgeous lavender eyes sparkle like they did before a battle, can't see that rare smile he gives me, when he's truly happy.

I sit there, not looking away from his face once as my fingers continue to mess up the silvery strands. Eyes shut, blood drying on his chest and by his mouth, a line of pain in between his delicate eyebrows...this wasn't the Hidan I knew.

Because that Hidan is gone.

This just strengthens my hatred of religion.

Hidan had dedicated his whole life to Jashin, and yet....that bastard that Hidan had worshiped had abandoned Hidan, right when I couldn't save him. This is all his fault, all that false god's fault that Hidan isn't breathing, is so cold.

My hands are shaking now, jarring Hidan's still frame, and I force myself to take a deep breath, my glowing green eyes shutting momentarily.

Nothing's bringing Hidan back. I would give everything I have, just to have him back. But that's an impossible wish, because he's...dead.

Dead. That was never suppose to happen to him...but it did.

And I never got the chance to tell him...that I loved him, more than money, more than life, more than anything.

I bury my face in his cold chest as the tears finally come.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I think my writing's gone beyond depressing and is just plain morbid.


	29. Sorrow

**Note:** Second part of the short story and the real 28th Theme. Real title: All I Can Do.

* * *

I sit there for a long time, not moving. The tears had fallen and dried up long ago, but I couldn't leave just yet, so I stayed where I was, not moving, head bowed, eyes closed so I don't have to look at his body.

I should have guessed that Pein wold send people after me. After all, I was supposed to have sent him a message a long time ago.

So I'm not that surprised when I hear the snapping of sticks and soft cussing, then Sasori and Deidara come out, the blonde pulling sticks from his hair and complaining, Sasori as emotionless as ever.

The red head walks over, and takes one long look at Hidan, Deidara following him. "What's wrong with Hidan, un?"

I don't look up at them. "Jashin revoked his immortality," I whisper, more to myself than them, but I know they heard it. "He's dead."

I hear a sharp gasp, and then Deidara starts to cry, his sobs the only noise in the clearing, and the sound after so long of being silent hurts my ears. I risk a glance up at them.

Sasori is pale, eyes wide and lips drawn into a thin line. His body is shaking slightly, but his eyes are clear. Deidara, on the other hand, is crying so hard, his body is doubled up, tear stains making their way down his cheeks.

My gaze drops back down to Hidan.

He looks like he did when he died, how many hours ago. The only difference is that his blood is dried up and when I shift him into a better position so I can stand, the blood flakes off.

I stand up, holding him bridal style, and his arms fall limply to his sides, and I send my threads out. They grab his cold arms and wrap them over his bloody stomach before they retreat back into me.

Deidara comes over, tears still streaming from his eyes as he looks down at Hidan. Then he bursts into fresh sobs, and Sasori comes over, wrapping his arms around the shaking blonde.

We stand there for a long moment, until Sasori finally lets go of Deidara and turns back to me. "What are you going to do with him?"

"I need to take him back to Pein."

He frowns at me. "Kakuzu, Pein can't do anything for him. _I_ can't do anything to save him. He's been dead for hours."

I shake my head, tightening my grip on the body in my arms. "Sasori, I have to, alright?"

He studies me out of gray eyes. I wonder how he can be so...emotionless, even though Hidan, our comrade, our friend, is dead.

Finally, he speaks. "You know that Pein is going to think that you're the one who killed him, don't you? Or do you just not care?"

"I don't care what he does to me." My voice is harsh. I wish it wasn't. It gives away too much of how I feel.

Deidara cuts in. "Danna, it can't hurt, un," he says, wiping his cheeks dry.

Sasori sighs and runs a hand through tangled hair. "Fine then. You'll be carrying him back to the base?" he directs that last bit at me.

I nod, and then I turn, and crouch low, holding Hidan close to me as I jump up into the first tree. I keep my eyes staring dead ahead, not looking at the cold and still body in my arms.

There's a slim chance that Pein can save him. I have to try.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** So I continued the story (No duh there) shut UP, Usumi!

Anyway, I used another theme for this...so yeah...I'll put a few more parts to this.


	30. Last Hope

**Note:** Third part of the short story and the real 94th Theme.

* * *

Kakuzu doesn't speak much on the way back to the base. Danna doesn't either, but then again, he never had much to say.

I still can't believe it. I can't believe that Hidan, crazy, always angry Hidan, is dead. He wasn't suppose to die.

Then again, danna isn't suppose to either, but he's had quite a few close calls. It was after one incident, where someone almost blew him up with paper bombs, that he told me he loved me.

Hidan used to be my best friend. I hate using the past tense on him, but that's what he is now. Just the past, a fading memory.

Anyway...he was my best friend, and we told each other everything. I told him when I first realized that I was in love with danna, when Sasori told me of his own feelings, even a little bit of my childhood, although danna is the only person who knows my whole past.

He told me things too. Sometimes, it was unimportant crap, like the details of a ritual. But once, he told me what he would have to do to have Jashin take his immortality. One way was he'd have to kill another follower of Jashin, but I've never met another one, so I doubt that was he did to have his god do that.

Another way was that if he renounced Jashin, but I bet that's not what he did. He loves Jashin, and his religion is his whole life.

He never told me the third reason, so maybe....that was the rule he broke, what he did to have his god kill him like that.

We're at the base now, and Sasori danna pushes by Kakuzu to hold open the door and allow the miser to walk through it, into the dark hallways. He's still holding Hidan.

I follow danna and Kakuzu, and we enter the living room.

Itachi, Kisame and Tobi are there, the weasel and shark watching Tobi play with a small stuffed dog, but when they heard us, they looked up.

The next moment, they was crowding around Kakuzu and Hidan, and the miser pushed his way by them to the couch where Itachi and Kisame had been recently sitting on. Gently, he set down Hidan's body, and straightened up again.

Itachi is the first to speak. "How did he die?" That's it. There's no doubt in his eyes, he knew from the moment he saw Hidan that he's dead.

"A stab wound. Jashin took away his immortality," Kakuzu answers, looking away from the body on the couch. "Where's Pein?"

"In his office."

"I'll get him," Kisame says, moving to the door and leaving, Itachi just behind him.

Tobi is silent as he looks over Hidan. "H...Hidan-sempai....is dead?" he asks hoarsely. Slowly, Kakuzu nods. Tobi starts to sob, and turns to run from the room.

Danna and I sit on the sofa opposite the one Hidan's lying on. I don't want to say the corpse, or body, because for the moment, it looks like he's merely sleeping, like he would do after a ritual, pike still jammed into his heart.

But he isn't sleeping.

I get to my feet and leave the moment Pein enters the room.  


* * *

Deidara leaves, but I stay, watching Kakuzu and Pein talk in hushed voices. Itachi and Kisame left the base, Tobi and Deidara are probably off crying, and god knows what Konan is doing.

I may seem like I don't care about Hidan's death, but I do. He and Deidara are the troublemakers, and they make life interesting here. He's the only one who can calm Kakuzu down from a rage, and I know the banker held that albino dear.

Pein and Kakuzu seem to be arguing, but I pay no mind to that. My mind wanders to when we first entered that clearing, Deidara and I, and saw Kakuzu sitting there, holding Hidan's still body.

I had a sudden flash of me being the one to hold Deidara's ice cold remains, and suddenly I was filled with pity for Kakuzu. Hidan was the one person who could understand him, and now he's gone. Dead.

Well, still here, but that Hidan's a shell, remains that will rot and fall to pieces before long.

Suddenly, Kakuzu and Pein seem to reach a decision, and Kakuzu dashes out the door, slamming it shut behind him, leaving me and Pein in the room alone. There's silence for a moment, and that silence is louder than any of Deidara's bombs.

"Where is he going?" I ask after a moment. Pein doesn't look at me; instead, he studies Hidan's wound.

'To Konoha. There's a medic there, Sakura Haruno. She learned a jitsu that can bring people back to life. He's going to kidnap her and force her to restore Hidan's life."

* * *

**Author's Comments:** First part is Dei's POV, then it switches to Sasori's.


	31. Waiting

**Note:** Fourth part of the short story and the real 55th Theme. Real title: Waiting For This.

* * *

Pein asks Kisame and me to move Hidan into the medical ward while we wait for Kakuzu to get back.

Kisame is in shock now, and he-we, both of us-can't believe that this happened. Hidan was only picked for the Akatsuki because he was immortal, so Kakuzu couldn't kill him.

But he still died.

Kisame and I open the door, Kisame carrying Hidan over one shoulder, and he swings him off and gently drops him on the bed.

I go to his, Kisame's, side, and we stare down at the broken body on the bed. I lean, not realizing what I'm doing until Kisame is the one supporting my weight, not me. I don't mind, though. I need to be close to Kisame right now.

He looks down at me, startled. I can feel his gaze on me, but I don't look up at him. My gaze is not on Hidan, either, but the floor, my eyes tracing the cold black and icy white tiles.

"Is something wrong?" Kisame asks me after a moment, voice low.

I pause before slowly nodding.

"Are you going to tell me, Itachi?" I love his voice. It's so low, reassuring...it never fails to make me feel better. But then again, just being around Kisame makes me feel so much lighter.

"Why is Hidan dead?" I whisper, not moving my gaze from the floor. "He was fucking immortal....what did he do?"

Kisame chuckles, although the sound is sad and tired, full of questions, just like mine. "You sound like him there." He's quiet for a moment, then..."I don't know, Itachi. And even if we can get him back, I don't think he'll tell us why."

* * *

Nearly a week has passed by the time Kakuzu gets back, with some whiny, pink haired bitch in tow who hasn't stopped complaining since she got here.

She's worse than Hidan was, with his whining.

. She's got to be the ugliest girl I have seen, and I vaguely remember her from my brother's class. Sakura Haruno, clearly a slut.

She knows the cost of her jitsu, so she's been fighting this the whole time. She doesn't want to die, but then again, neither did Hidan, just yet.

No one cares that this will take her life. Deidara is glaring at her, muttering under his breath as he squishes his clay. Tobi is sniffing, and saying to anyone who will listen that that bitch is not a good girl. Even Pein looks annoyed, and I wonder if he'll let me use my eyes on her, until I remember that we want her sane for this.

Kakuzu simply looks livid. He's going to force her to preform it, sooner or later. He wants Hidan back, badly. Anyone can see that.

We all want Hidan back, but Kakuzu needs him. I overheard him talking to Pein, who was inquiring about his health. He hasn't eaten since the Jashinist died. No wonder he looks so skinny.

I may not look like I care about anyone, but I do. I like living with the Akatsuki, and I love Kisame so much, it hurts. Hidan is a part of this nutty family, and with him gone, it feels...wrong.

* * *

I finally get her to preform the dammed thing, offering her this, or for her to watch everyone she holds dear be tortured in front of her eyes, then burn their flesh off and force her to eat it.

Cold, I know, but I need Hidan back.

Her hands are surrounded by a blue energy that is growing steadily weaker as she pours her pathetic life into Hidan's body. I sit on a chair placed next to my partner's bed, arms crossed over my chest as I glare at her, not giving her any chances to think she can run away. Itachi and Deidara are on guard outside the door, to stop her if she tries to run.

She's sweating now, the beads rolling down her large forehead. I don't care. She could get heat stroke, but I wold only help her if she couldn't finish.

She has to sit now, her body is growing so weak. Her breathing is harsh, but not as Hidan's was before he died.

On reflex, I glance down at him. His skin is alight by the blue, his hair mussed. He doesn't seem like he's dead, but he is.

With one final groan, Sakura pushes the last of her energy out and collapses, her body falling to the floor, and I can no longer hear her heartbeat.

I sit there, feeling impatient as I wonder why Hidan's breathing isn't back yet.

Then he gasps, his heart beginning once again, and his eyes snap open.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** First two parts: Itachi's POV, then last part is Kakuzu's.

One more part after this.


	32. Breaking The Rules

**Note:** Fifth and last part of the short story and the real 50th Theme. Real title: Broken Rules.

* * *

I'm frozen as Hidan blinks, eyes wide before he squints, raising an arm to shield his face. The hard florescent lights wash out all his coloring, leaving him paler than usual.

Hidan props himself up on his elbows, shaking his head to get his hair out of the way. He's muttering, and I bite back a grin when I hear the word "fuck". But I can't completely stop, so when he tilts his head towards me, there's a small smile on my face.

I wish I had my mask.

His eyes flicker over my face, then grins widely.

"Hey."

His voice is hoarse and rasping. While I was gone, getting Sakura, Sasori had fixed the hole in his chest and throat, but I can still see the thin scar on his neck where the flesh was ripped open. That scar is even whiter than the rest of his skin and looks strange, out of place.

"Why did you die?"

The words slip out before I can stop them. His face falls, and he looks away, at the whitewashed wall as he pushes himself so he's sitting all the way up.

"I already told you," he says, voice still harsh. Maybe I should get him some water. "Jashin took away my immortality."

He's not swearing, and I find that strange.

"Yes, but why did he take it away?"

Hidan continues to stare firmly in the other direction, and when I tilt my head, craning my neck, I can see a light pink blush staining his cheeks.

Hidan, blushing.

That completely throws me. But he looks cute like that, the pink a sharp contrast to his pale skin and hair.

We don't speak for a few moments.

"Did you break one of Jashin's rules or something?" I finally ask.

He flinches, still not looking at me, but finally, he nods. I sigh. Getting him to tell me will be difficult.

"What rule?"

He mumbles something I can't make out, so I grab his thin and still deathly cold shoulders, forcing him to look at me and rolling my eyes at his immaturity as I do so. His eyes are wide, the blush back as he stares at me.

"Are you going to tell me what rule you broke?" I ask him slowly.

He nods again, looking nervous and almost scared, and the blush gets deeper with every second. I sigh and try to be patient as he takes a breath. After all, he did just come back from death.

"Well? Are you going---" the rest of my words are cut off as he leans forward and presses his soft lips to mine.

My body freezes. I can't believe this is happening.

He pulls away after a second, and looks down at the bed covers. "Jashin prohibits love," he whispers. "The rule I broke was...I fell in love with you."

That throws me, again.

He looks back up and I'm startled to see tears in his eyes. Slowly, I reach out a hand, and wipe them away as they begin to fall down his cheeks. His skin is surprisingly soft.

Once they're all gone, I pull him forward by his rosary again and lock our lips together.

He tenses for a second before relaxing and kissing me back, allowing me to deepen it when I bite his lip.

When I pull away, gasping for air, I smile at him. "I love you too, Hidan."

Then I yank him forward into a hug, and he yelps. "And I'm never letting you go again."

Of course, Deidara choose that moment to burst in, and started sobbing when he saw that Hidan was back, joining in on the hug and yelling for everyone else.

Soon, Hidan is buried by all the other Akatsuki members, and laughing as Tobi tickles him. I'm smiling as Konan bursts into tears and hugs anyone who gets in her way.

There's nothing funnier than an alarmed Itachi trying to pry a damp Konan off of him.

Hidan finally gets away, and I follow him outside the base, wanting to watch the sunset together. But alone time is something you can't get, here, so naturally, in celebration, Deidara has to set off his art.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Cute little fluffy ending, hope ya'll like.

And to everyone who is mad that I killed Sakura:

Look, I hate her, I'm sure you hate some characters I like. Everyone is intitles to their own opinon, and I'm sure that if you leave hate comments on here, my friends, who also don't like Sakura, will kill you.

Not everyone likes her. Get used to it and grow up.


	33. Expectations

All his life, Kisame had been trying to be someone else.

Doing that for long enough, he began to forget who he was. Who Kisame really was, under all the hopes, dreams and expectations unloaded onto him. They crushed him, until he was smothering under a burden no one saw but him.

His mother had always placed too much faith in him. It wasn't like she dumped her dreams on him, then left him. No, she was there every step of the way, making it impossible for Kisame to even try to escape.

His father was a swordsmaster, and had great hopes for his son. Never mind that the boy's skin was permanently blue, after his father threw him in the river, covered in blue paint, in order to become stronger. Never mind that he had filed his son's teeth to a point, scaring the village children when Kisame used his new fangs to bite a hole in another boy's hand.

Never mind his son was falling apart right in front of him, all the time.

Kisame really hated it.

He didn't like people pushing things on him. His father pushed his jitsus on him, his mother manners and a minimal amount of patience.

But at the end of the day, all of those things just were not Kisame Hoshigaki.

They belong to Kisame Hoshigaki, version number two. The kid his parents really wanted, not version one.

His father handed him blade after blade, but none felt right in his hand. Not even the ones that his father said belonged to the greatest of all ninja. Kisame version one never said that they didn't balance right. No, Kisame version two would take over, smiling as he sliced the air with a blade that threatened to fall out of his hand if he wasn't careful.

Afterwards, though, Kisame version one took over, and his hand felt wrong, unbalanced, for the remainder of the day.

His father didn't seem to notice it.

Then one day, he took Kisame, now fourteen, to the what could be called the village museum.

"These are," his father had said proudly, gesturing around at the dusty shelves, "The legacy of our ancestors."

He had continued to talk about why remembering the past was so important, but Kisame paid his father no mind. His eyes were fixed on a huge sword, tucked into a corner case, bandages winding around the cutting edge. Kisame wanted to know how that sword felt, wanted to have it in his hands, to swing, to kill with it.

But he didn't say a word. Kisame version two never said a thing out of place, and Kisame version two was what Kisame version one was pretending to be.

His father finally pointed at the sword. "That, Kisame, is a fine example of the hidden Mist's proud past. This sword has been around for centuries; used in all the great battles! Samehada...that sword had been a mark of pride."

Samehada.

The moment he'd seen it, Kisame version two had died, and all he wanted was that sword, and a way out. Out of every hope that was plastered to him, every hateful glance sent his way, every single thing that encouraged the fact that Kisame number two was the wanted one, not him.

He didn't want to be used any more. He wanted be Kisame, before he forgot who Kisame really was and became Kisame version two for good.

Breaking into the museum was almost too easy. Their were few traps, and they were easy to dismantle. Taking the sword was also simple. He'd merely forced open the back of it's case and heaved it into his hands.

Unlike every other sword he had held, this one felt right. Perfectly balanced, and he knew, _knew_, why this sword was so special. It had too much expected of it as well, and it was tired. It wanted to be used again, to fight once more.

Kisame loved the sword instantly.

Escaping was also too easy. He just walked out the village gate, Samehada strapped to his back. No one even tried to stop him as he jumped away through the mist.

It was quite disappointing, really. He had wanted to show that he was better than they had guessed, stronger than they were. But they simply let him go.

Wandering around the country side suited Kisame's style more than living in the village, but it still wasn't right. There was still too much expected of him. Bounty hunters came for him, expecting a good fight. Mother screamed when he came into town, expecting him to only be capable of mass murder.

He was empty, but more alive than he had been in a long time, until finally he found Akatsuki.

He had been searching for them. He had heard of what they wanted to do, and found it sounded interesting to him.

His name had the price of several million on it by the time he joined. Hundreds of bounty killers, innocents, all dead by his hand.

Soon after Kisame joined, they accepted in Itachi Uchiha, the kid who had murdered his whole clan. Tiny, with delicate limbs and a tin face, he seemed breakable to Kisame.

Also his strange fixture on lavender. When Kisame asked, the teen didn't say anything about it, but the shark guessed that the plant comforted him in some way.

Itachi put on the tough act, but Kisame saw that he was really quite scared. The kid had nightmares almost every night, and the only thing that could calm him down was a piece of lavender.

So Kisame made a habit of keeping a small pot of it on the windowsill. Itachi never said anything about it, and neither did he.

The kid was a good fighter, Kisame gave him that. He didn't need anyone to protect him, and for once, he didn't expect much of Kisame.

But it was because he didn't that Kisame began to do so much more for the kid. If he stopped doing it, the weasel wouldn't mention it, he'd just go back to doing it for himself.

And Kisame supposed that the knowledge that Itachi didn't expect too much of him, didn't mind if Kisame did nothing or everything for him, was exactly why he loved him.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Kisame's turn.


	34. Stars

"Isn't it pretty, un?" Deidara grinned as Sasori leaned his head back, eyes wide at the sight. The night air pressed on the bomber's skin, making him shiver, but Sasori didn't seem to noticed.

_"Of course not,"_ Deidara mentally scolded himself, watching as his partner turned a full circle, still looking at the sight before him. _"He doesn't have any nerve endings."_

The hill they were standing on was covered in early winter snow, crusty and hard, footsteps perfectly preserved in them from the other few people who had dared to climb this hill. Sasori's blood red hair, lightened to almost pink by the moon, swayed in the slight breeze. It blew in through Deidara's cloak, and he shivered harder.

"You cold, brat?" Sasori had noticed his shaking.

"No, un," Deidara snapped, drawing his cloak closer to his body and burying his numb cheeks into the collar. His breaths were coming out as small clouds, and Deidara watched them, mouth hidden by the warm fabric, as they drifted lazily up to the darkened sky.

"People shiver when cold," Sasori stated in monotone, not staring at the sky any more.

"But people also shiver from other things, danna, un," Deidara shot back.

Sasori didn't reply, but merely tilted his head back again. "That is so gorgeous," the puppet master breathed, eyes wide. He looked so much like the little child he had never been at that moment. It was a step closer to his lost sanity, Deidara noticed with some amount of pride.

"It is nice, isn't it, un?" Deidara murmured, leaning his head back as well.

The sky was bright, although it was pitch black. A carpet of stars, the brightest Deidara had ever seen them, sprawled across the blackness, reaching into infinity with tendrils of pure light. The moon was a thin crescent, and the light cast off it was dimmed by that of the other stars.

Sasori hummed in reply to Deidara's question. "It's so peaceful."

The blonde chanced a quick look at his partner. For the first time since Deidara had met him, nearly a year ago, he wasn't smiling his usual, crazy smile. His eyes were watching some silent movie only he could understand, his whole body relaxed.

_All part of healing..._

"Do you think the stars are disgusted?" Sasori asked calmly, not looking at his partner.

The question shocked Deidara. Maybe the red head wasn't as recovered as he looked. "What do you mean, un?"

"They watch everything that goes on down here," the red head murmured. "They see everything, everyone's pain, every war, every single betrayal. Do you think that they're disgusted with humanity?" he finished, looking over at his younger partner.

Deidara felt clueless. "I- I don't know, danna, un. But they would see everyone's happiness, too, wouldn't they?"

Sasori studied him for a moment, and Deidara began to feel uncomfortable. There was just something so piercing in Sasori's eyes, like he was looking right through him.

"...Maybe you're right," the red head muttered after a moment, turning to look back up at the stars.

Deidara breathed a sigh of relief. His body was cold, muscle tensing from standing still for so long, but he found he didn't really mind.

"Hey, Dei?" he heard Sasori say.

"Hm?"

"...Thanks." The word was so quiet that the blonde could have sworn he imagined it for a moment. But he had said it, and Deidara felt butterflies bubble up in his stomach, dancing in his throat as he grinned.

"No problem, danna, un."

And they went back to watching the stars, closer to sanity than they had been in a long time.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** It's in the same universe as A Version of Sane, Lavender, Here is Happiness and whatever I named the one about Hidan.


	35. Hold My Hand

Lee, I'm pretty sure, is not normal. He's just too full of life to be, and he shows it too much it seems. He's as thin as a rail from as his exercising, and always, he's saying how he needs to be stronger. Doesn't matter he's strong as it is. No, he wants more.

When I tried to kill him during the Chuunin exams, I hated him. No one deserved to be that happy when there were people being killed, and when the sky was as cloudy as it was.

First person to break through my sand barrier. It was him, during that fight. He kicked me.

I couldn't believe it. I'm suppose to be the untouchable, the scary Gaara. No one messes with me, because they know I can and will kill them, first chance I get.

Lee either doesn't care, or he's just oblivious. I think it's the second option.

I tried to kill him shortly thereafter. I was about to do it, but then the Nara and the Kyuubi stopped me. I'm almost glad I didn't kill Nara now; as he and my sister are engaged.

But then, I was convinced that they all needed to die. The Kyuubi seemed scared by me. He was a container too, he knew the pain. But did he really think he was so special? That there was only him, only one person playing the role of a vessel for a monster?

Fool.

So then came the Chuunin fights. My sister, fighting Nara, won when he dropped out. She was so surprised. She likes it when the guys fight back.

Kyuubi fought the Hyuuga, and won, even though he was so low on chakra he should have been dead. It seemed almost fake to me, that he was the victor.

Then I fought the Uchiha. He's not the last one, no matter what he says. His brother is wandering the country with a group of criminals. I read the bingo book.

He's an arrogant bastard, and I still think that of him. He's not the only one with a hard life, a sad past he wants to forget.

Our plan was set into effect soon after.

Of course, I ended up fighting the Kyuubi.

Why is he so determined to protect the Uchiha and Haruno? Have they ever done anything for him? Why should he save them?

Because they're his friends. Of course.

When I released Shukaku, I felt a sense of relief. Let him deal with it. I wanted to be alone in the dark for just a little while.

But of course the Kyuubi had to wake me up, and we used the last of our strength to punch each other. When we landed on the ground, I thought he would be furious.

But when I looked at him, he was crying. For me. Strange.

Emotions come when you least expect them.

Within the next three months, I became a changed person. I felt more at peace, and I knew my siblings more. They weren't tools. They were people, like me, and had a right to live.

When the Uchiha left, my siblings and I were on our way to visit Konoha, when we were intercepted at the gates and told of what was happening. Temari immediately left to go help Nara. Kankuro found this hilarious, for reasons he did not explain to me, saying I would figure out in time. He went after the Inuzuka.

Leaving me with Lee.

He was drunk when I got there. He must have low alcohol tolerance or something, because I only saw one sake bottle.

He was putting up a remarkable fight against his opponent, but he would have lost, had I not stepped in.

That Kimimaru...his will to fight for his "precious person" was astounding. What is so important about one person that you would be willing to die, to kill for them?

Afterward, Lee and I were hiding behind a tree. Our chakra levels were both far too low to do much other than rest for the time being, and I could only hope that we were not attacked once again.

We sat there for a while, talking. Lee is a much more complex person than I had guess, I found that I was surprised he couldn't use jitsus. He laughed it off, saying he was used to it.

When I said I was done resting, he jumped to his feet, dancing around like a nut. I couldn't seem to maneuver my legs to the right position to stand, and when he noticed, he smiled, offering me his hand to help me up.

It was warm, and rough, but it didn't feel bad. Rather, it felt good, and his touch made my skin tingle.

I never wanted to let go.

Funny how holding a person's hand one time can make you fall for them, even if you hated them before. I ended up visiting Lee far more often than I had thought I would, and he was always happy to see me.

I wondered how he could do it. I had almost killed him, hadn't I?

When I asked him about that, he merely flashed me a blinding grin, saying as long as we were friends now, the past was not important, because he would not give up our friendship for anything.

He grabbed my hand then, dragging me off to whatever youthful thing he had planned this time, still grinning.

But this time, he didn't let me go.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** I finally get off my lazy ass and write, and what do I do? GaaLee.


	36. Precious Treasure

Saying that Kakuzu loved money was like calling Deidara gay. It was just obvious.

Money hadn't always been the most important thing to Kakuzu. Once, his family had been, long ago. He was born in the waterfall village, his mother a head medic nin, his dad a retired ANBU, working as a jounin. They were moderately wealthy, living in a rather nice apartment near the center of town.

Kakuzu could have cared less about his family's money then. He knew they had enough, and that was enough to satisfy them. He spent his time working on his studies, playing with his friends, and training, not bothering with the taxes and bills they received every month.

Kakuzu's friends were all moderately talented pre-nins, and they always trained together, laughing and joking as they practiced various ninjitsu and taijitsu.

His mother always had some interesting hospital story to tell at the end of each day, usually about how one patient got injured. Kakuzu had found these stories fascinating, and his mother had high hopes he would follow her into the medic area.

His father had his own bloodline limit, allowing him to use thread and cloth as a way of attack. Unraveling clothing during battles and using the threads to strangle their wearer was one of his favorite jitsus, and Kakuzu desperately wanted to learn it.

He graduated the ninja academy at the top of his class, and was assigned to one of the village's top jounin, Mikasa Suda, along with the second in class, Karin Fuuya, a girl with a bloodline limit that allowed her to create illusions so realistic and long lasting that some nin never came out of it. His other teammate was Ichiya Sanuka; while he didn't have a limit, he was a taijistu specialist.

The first mission with his team is where everything went wrong.

Kakuzu had little training with his bloodline when he went on his first mission, a supposedly C-ranked one. Turned out, it was an A-rank. They were suppose to fight against over fifty jounin level nins.

Mikasa tried to protect his students, but Ichiya was the first to fall, a hole drilled through his stomach. Mikasa followed soon after, pushing Karin out of the way of a chakra blast.

Soon, it was only Karin and Kakuzu, still hopelessly out-numbered, nearly forty-five to two.

Karin died shortly after, impaled by a spear, leaving only Kakuzu. A team of geniuses, dead in less than ten minutes.

Kakuzu didn't die of course, but he came close. His body was slashed, and he was left for dead. Found nearly six hours later, he was taken to the hospital immediately. His mother and her friends worked overtime to repair the damage, but his soul had been broken far beyond repair.

He wasn't insane, per say. In fact, he was more intelligent than ever, his body toughened by the experience. But he was still snapped in two.

His mother didn't understand why he was suddenly so cold, so distant. He hardly said a word to her, and his father couldn't connect to his son anymore. Kakuzu's desire to learn his bloodline limit diminished, leaving only a want.

For immortality.

The idea of never appealed to him. A way to never die, never lose. A way to see everything passed by, with you always there, laughing as the world came to it's end, and he wanted to be the last one on Earth's final day, laughing in the fiery fields as the mortals died in agony around him.

Yes, that is what Kakuzu wanted.

Money also became important to him. His surgery had cost his parents, and his father and mother were working overtime to pay it back. He didn't want to burden them anymore, with his new-found greed and wish.

So he left. Leaving was simpler than coming. Bounty hunting was all now, even with his training half complete. He wore a mask now; partially to hide his face from people after the bounty on his head, partially because he hated the way he looked now.

His bloodline became twisted. The threads, used from his surgery, covered his body, and Kakuzu found he could control them easily. They became his main form of attack; digging the coarse black threads into unsuspecting nins.

He found that his threads could rip out the hearts of his victims, still beating. He still wanted immortality, and the hearts began to interest him.

During one fight, a kunai was stabbed into his lower intestine, and he hissed venomously as his stomach acids began to leak out slowly, eating at his stomach lining slowly. His threads dug into his attacker's chest, and the man died screaming as the threads yanked back, carrying his heart with them.

Kakuzu stared at the heart dangling in front of him, head full of a hazy fog as it moved closer. He didn't question what his threads were doing; they knew what they were doing.

Prying back the flap of ripped skin on his stomach, the threads shoved the heart in, reaching in to connect arteries and nerves to the new addition.

Life suddenly flooded his veins, and Kakuzu grinned as the threads began to stitch his stomach shut.

He was twenty nine at the time, and after that, his body seemed to stop aging. Stuck like that forever. Not that he cared; it was a step towards his goal.

He continued to steal hearts, storing them inside his chest. As ANBU came after him more and more, he found that if he stole their masks and hearts, combining it with his threads, he had powerful monsters that could live quietly on his back the rest of the time. He transferred all his hearts he had, except for his own, to his back. Three hearts, three masks.

When Akatsuki came for him, he was bored. Sure, he had plenty of money, and he was basically immortal. But life becomes boring after the days of the same pass by often enough. His money ceased to interest him as much as it once had.

Having nothing better to do, he joined. Pein gave him the job of balancing the budget almost immediately, as well as a partner.

The first guy died within his first day. Pein was not pleased, but grudgingly gave him another partner, a man who supposedly murdered his entire village. Gone within three weeks.

One after another. Kakuzu ended up losing count after awhile. There were just too many.

Of course, then they had to find him.

Hidan was the smallest man in Akatsuki so far, eyes large and almost comic-like. Pale skin, silver hair, a lean body. He looked more like a model then a nin, and certainly a immortal one at that.

Oh, Kakuzu tried to kill him. Honestly. The kid was just immortal psycho with a huge ego, had no respect for money or authority, and never shut up.

But there was something rather appealing about that. Hidan didn't hold things in like Kakuzu did. He always said what he was thinking, did the first thing that came to mind; whether it was plunging a pike through his stomach or pushing Kakuzu out of the way of a kunai.

He didn't know when it started to hurt watching Hidan hurt himself. People didn't matter to him anymore, but Hidan did.

Was Hidan even a person? He was so unearthly beautiful Kakuzu never considered him human at all; more like some jeweled statue come to life. A precious treasure, sealed in time like he was.

And not just anyone's treasure, oh no.

Hidan was his, whether he knew it or not.

* * *

**Author's Comments:** ...Kinda been outta it all day, sorry....

It's not a blood limit. It's a forbidden Jutsu. I'm sorry; it's just the way I interpreted it. I didn't mean to offend anyone.


	37. Eyes

When my family died, I laughed. I laughed so hard I doubled up from the pain of it, but keep right on laughing, laughing as tears flowed down my face, laughing as blood finally leaked into them, and I was still laughing. I don't think I stopped for at least a day, that's how long it was.

When I finally stopped, my breathing ragged, I looked up at their still bodies and blank faces, then started all over again, my body wracking with the violent giggles.

The smoking ruins of my house reeked of smoke and death, and the scent crowded out any other smells, slowly killing off my scent of smell.

I collapsed then, worn out, and I can't be bothered with remembering, or even trying to remember, how long I slept. It was a long time, I know. My parents' bodies were bloated, their skin alive with the dance of flies by the time I awoke. The sun beat down on me, and my skin was raw. Sunburn. Days had passed; how many, I'm never going to know.

There's not much to remember about that day...it was hot, with no breeze, as was usual in Rock country. My villages was in ruins around me, smoke still curling up to the clear sky. My fault, of course. Everything that went wrong can be blamed on one person.

Well, guess who that was for my village.

My muscles were sore as I slowly stood, wincing as pain shot through my already exhausted body. My back stung, sending dull shocks through my system. My head was throbbing, and I was fighting the urge to throw up and just fall down again.

The villagers lay dead around me, bodies sprawled in streets covered with ash, scrambling into fallen buildings, laying by the front gate...everywhere.

And I had done this.

I licked my dry lips, trying to spread what little moisture I had. They were dry and cracked, my lips were, and the blood was way too thick and dried for my taste.

I glanced down to my right. My mother's hands were reaching for me, her blue eyes, so much like mine, glazed by death. She was holding my five-year-old brother in her ruined, burned arms, sheltering his face in the crook of her bloody neck.

My father was plastered against the wall, his head lolling to the side, tongue poking out. It may have been comical in another situation, but not now. His hair, golden as mine, was burned to the roots, and a gaping hole marked his face, where his right cheek should have been. His teeth were blackened and falling out. They hadn't been that way before he died.

Before I blew up the village.

The reek of death is getting to be too much, combined with the smell of burned flesh, and my stomach churned unpleasantly as I eyed the remains of the Rock village. Everything was ruined, and the edges of my mouth lifted momentarily before I turned to examining my body.

I wasn't spared by the fire I had set. My arms were covered with huge blisters and ugly raw spots due to sunburn. Ash coated by whole body, and the remains of my clothing were ripped and torn, held together by a few threads as they draped around my body.

My clay pouch was the only thing even vaguely whole, still tied onto the last strips of my belt. Blood dripped from various wounds, adding to the puddles decorating the ground already.

I pursed my lips as I stared back up at the sky. I didn't really have a plan when I blew this place up, I just wanted silence. I didn't want the endless chatter, the constant yelling, the smacks of beating as hands bruised my skin.

God, I could taste the blood, there was so much of it spilled. It smelled nasty, the sharp iron scent burning into my nose, but I didn't have the energy to do anything about it.

I began walking, picking my way over the broken buildings, the stacks of stones and piles of bodies. There's nothing left for me here, in this dead place, with glazed eyes staring at me accusingly every way I look.

_You killed us, Deidara..._

_Do you regret it?_

_Look! My child was burned by your flames and bombs, you monster! You should die, you fucker!_

_Why'd you do this to us? We never bothered with you...._

That was part of it....

_It hurts so much! How can you laugh in the face of such pain?!_

You laughed at me...when I was the bleeding, dying one...

_I'm so sorry, Deidara!_

You're not.

Their eyes are dead as they stare at me, and I fight a shudder as I pick my way by them. Stop staring at me! They never looked at me before, why must they now?

I pause by the gate, my hand on the burned wood and clay as I cast one final look over my shoulder, at the death and ruins behind me. At my dead parents, my dead brother, my dead teacher, the dead boys who would beat me up every chance they got...and their blank eyes, staring at me with such hatred. Not anything different from what I'm used to.

"Funny..." I muttered, voice harsh. It was the first time I had tried to speak in days, and the words ripped at my throat. "You're all so quiet...but your accusations are louder than ever."

* * *

**Author's Comments:** Um...it's bloody?


End file.
